


Almost Drowning

by imaginisa



Series: Out of the Arena and into the Games [1]
Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-28
Updated: 2017-11-29
Packaged: 2019-02-08 03:36:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 12
Words: 27,277
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12855897
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imaginisa/pseuds/imaginisa
Summary: What if Finnick had a younger sister? And what if, watching her brother's soul get chipped away after his games she encouraged him to break just one, little, harmless rule?But Snow never roots for the underdog, and moves in swiftly to shatter their lives.And...what if...meanwhile in District 12, there was another family, another pair of siblings, and a reaping that shattered their world, too.May the odds be ever in your favor.





	1. Night Tides

**Josie – District Four**  
  


The Hunger Games destroy you piece by piece. There are no winners, only victors. No one goes home unscarred. And the rest of us try to ignore the scars. We go on with our lives and then a piece of us dies every time we see a neighbor – somebody’s brother or sister or daughter or son - go get murdered for the entertainment of the Capitol.

God, how I hate the Capitol.

With their bright hair the color of coral and eyes too big or too small, like some sort of useless fish that you throw back into the ocean because it’s too bony to be eaten.

Useless.

And they live for entertainment! Making gossip of every useless little thing. Blue is in, blue is out, ocean theme is attractive...blah, blah blah, blah, blah! I hate them. I hate what they did to my brother.

He doesn’t complain. But he gets calls at midnight and I hear him cross the hall. He’s careful trying not to wake me. But I’m a light sleeper. And I hear his fake joy, hear him murmuring sweet nothings that drive those useless flies insane. _That’s all it is! I_ want to scream. _Nothing! Nothing! Can’t you see what you’re doing to him?_  
  
Eventually, he broke. I suspect it was this breaking that drove Haymitch to drink and those tributes that rely on morphing to their drugs. But Finnick broke differently.

It was several months after the 70th Hunger games when Annie moved in. She came because my brother loved her, and she loved him. If no one mentions the Hunger Games, she’s pretty normal. She even smiles now. But if the Games are mentioned she’ll scream or cry and cry and cry. Once she tried to stab her father with a kitchen knife – she thought he was a career from District 1 or something. Yet Finnick loves her. I can tell, everyone can.

And tonight, as I hear him approach the phone, my stomach clenches with anger. _How dare they, how dare they!_ I know with all my heart that my older brother wishes to get engaged, and it makes this all so much harder to take.

  
I hear that seductive voice, the tease, his false joy. I hear the phone hang up and I wait to hear his quiet footsteps on the stairs.

They never come.

I strain my ears - I can’t hear anything. I get scared, and I slowly slip out of bed. My feet protest when I feel the cold wooden floor of the living room and I shiver at the chill in the air that promises rain. I almost turn back to my warm bed, but I see him silhouetted by the moon. He’s curled up with his knees against his chest and his back against the wall. His forehead is resting against knee and he’s crying. I can see it in the way his body is shuddering. He’s fighting it, trying to keep from crying out and triggering Annie’s nightmares. He rocks slightly, like a frightened child. The tears catch the moonlight, shining like diamonds on his cheeks. I swallow hard. 

I haven’t seen him cry since he left, only fourteen, to win his Games. I’ve heard him scream at night. But never cry. I was only ten the year he won. And I haven’t seen him cry since - not even when he arrived home on the train and ran to pull me into his arms as I, sobbing, tried to explain: mom and dad went fishing during a storm, they were behind on their quota for fish because they’d spent so much time watching TV. Their boat was lost. Their bodies were found in pieces.

Those games were my nightmare too. I’d almost lost everyone that year.

I walk over to him slowly, “Finnick?”

He looks up with a start, breathing hard, trying to stem the tears.  
“H...hey lil’...sis.” He tries to give me a smile but can’t. Tears stream down his face as if his heart is breaking. Something is changing here, in our dimly lit house.

I sit down next to him and let him fall against my shoulder, the way I did the night he returned. I hug him and fight to keep my tears from falling. One of us has to be strong.

                
Eventually, his tears stop, his body becomes still. He hugs me close, playing with my hair the way he used to do when we were little. “I can’t do this anymore,” he whispers.

“Do what?” I ask, my voice just as soft.

He shakes his head, “The Capitol.”

I snuggle into his shoulder. I imagine what mom and dad would say if they knew what Finnick is doing to protect me. “Then don’t,” I say.

 Finnick pulled away, his sea-green eyes sad. “You know I have...”

“No, you don’t,” I take a deep breath, trying to keep my voice low. “I can’t watch you kill yourself because of me. You love Annie - so go love her! You don’t owe anything to the Capitol.”

“Snow...”

 “Gave you the option right?” I demanded. “Said you could stop someday…”

I remember President Snow coming to the house. Finnick had been sixteen, I’d been twelve. Finnick had taken Snow to the study and they’d spoken for a long time. When President Snow finally left, Finnick had collapsed in a chair, his face buried in his hands for a good twenty minutes. I’d been terrified and run to get Mags – the closest thing we had to parents. I mean, we had our Aunt and Uncle but they didn’t understand Finnick anymore, no one did except for Mags and Annie. I tried, I really did but being a victor made you part of an exclusive club….

They hadn’t told me what the visit meant until one year later. Now, at fifteen years old, I knew what it actually meant; Finnick was selling his body to the Capitol. Now Finnick had a shadow in his eyes that never left. It wasn’t just the games....

Finnick runs his hands through his hair; “Well...yes, but...”

“What can he do to me?” I ask. “Anything public and you can make a scene. Stop doing this, he said it wouldn’t be forever, true?”

“True,” I can see hope in his eyes.

I hug him. “Don’t destroy any chance of happiness over me, Finnick,” I whisper in his ear. “I’d die.”

“No,” he says firmly, pulling me away. He tucks a strand of loose hair behind my ear, the way my dad used to do to me. “No, don’t say that, Josie. I couldn’t bear to lose my little sis.” He swallows hard. “You, Annie, and Mags are all I’ve got.”  
              

We hug again, and he scoops me up as if I were still ten years old and puts me in my bed. Silently, he walks back to Annie and I listen to the night tides outside as I finally let my salt-tears soak the pillow.

 My poor brother. And Annie. And Mags.

I would hate to be in the Hunger Games.


	2. The Reaping

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We see the consequences of Josie's plan and meet the rest of the players in our play.

**Josie – District Four**  
  


“Don’t forget, folks!” Cesar Flickerman’s grin flashed at the cameras and I glared at the TV, “The reaping day for the 71st Hunger Games is tomorrow! Happy Hunger Games everyone! And may the…”

The TV shuts off and I turn. Finnick is holding the remote by the door, a frown on his face.

 “…Odds be ever in your favor,” I finish for Cesar. Finnick sighs and drops the remote on the table and then collapses on the couch next to me.

 “Why was the TV even on?” he asked wearily. His tan skin is wet from the surf and there is sand in his hair.

 “Johanna was being…strange,” I said elusively.

 He raised an eyebrow, “And since when do you watch the Capitol’s channels?”

 “Since nothing,” I said.

 “Josephine,” he said, drawing out my name.

 I can’t meet his eyes. “I was just…checking…”

 “The gossip about me?” Finnick guessed. I shrugged.

 “Don’t worry,” he assured me, “Snow kept his word. I’m good.”

 I throw my arms around his neck.

 “Wow!” he laughed as we fell back against the pillows. “What the heck, Josie!”

 “I’m so happy,” I whisper in his ear.

 “This was months ago,” he protests.

 “I know,” I toss back my hair and stand. I’m much calmer now. “But new Hunger Games mean new gossip if they haven’t talked about you yet…”

 “They won’t ever,” Finnick finishes. We grin at each other.

 

 “I can’t get over how alike you look,” a musical voice comments softly from the door.

 Finnick’s smile widens and he goes to the new arrival. “Good morning, gorgeous,” he tells Annie before sweetly kissing her. She blushes.

 I smile, “Hi, Annie!”

 “Hello, Josie,” she said why she recovers from the kiss. But she has eyes only for Finnick. Then she gets serious, what day is it?

   _Oh, no._

  Finnick swallowed hard, “Why don’t you sit down?”

 “It’s today, isn’t it?” the hysteria is already creeping into her voice.

 “Annie…”

 “Is it!?” she looks accusingly at both me and Finnick.

 “It is,” says an old voice. Mags has entered the house. Annie screams and falls to her knees, her hands flat over her ears.

 “Annie!”

 “Annie, it’s okay, it’s okay…”

  “They're going to make me watch! I have to mentor! I…have…to…I can't, I just can't!”

 “And you don't need to,” Mags said firmly. “We talked to the Capitol – you don’t have to come. I’ll go. Finnick will stay with you.”

 “It’s approved?” I asked as Finnick repeated Mags’ words to Annie. He said each word firmly, kissing her softly on her hands, her cheeks.

 “Just got off the phone,” Mags replied.

  Annie had finally understood.  “I…I don’t…”

 “Never,” Finnick replied.

 “You won, Annie,” I tell her. “They can’t hurt you now.”

 She nods and jumps at the sound of our obnoxious clock dinging and donging 11 o’clock. We all look at each other and laugh, even Annie.

 

  _Wait…eleven…?_

 “Shit!” I jump to my feet and race upstairs.

 “What is it?” Annie all but shrieks. “Josie!”

 I stick my head over the balcony, all smiles. “I need to get dressed. I’ve got to go, but don’t worry. I’ll make fish stew tonight, okay?”

Then I quickly slip into my favorite green dress. It’s the same sea-green as my eyes – as Finnick’s eyes – with a golden sash. My hair is loose except for a thin golden hairband that Annie wove for me on one of her good days. She weaves a lot – it’s her talent but the Capitol didn’t want a long segment on someone who’s completely crazy when the Games are mentioned. I fly down the stairs. Mags has already left to greet the train and start preparing it for the tributes…

   _Oh god, oh god…no don’t think about it…_

 “Finnick!” I shout, “Finn! Where are my shoes?”

“By the door!” he shouts back. He’s out back, sitting on the beach with Annie. The water calms her down.

“Not my sailing shoes!” I say, exasperated. “The nice ones!!”

“How would I know?”

“In my study!” Annie shouts, unexpectedly, “I cleaned them up a bit!”

 I run outside and give her a huge hug, “Annie, you’re amazing!”

 She giggles and I run to find my shoes. I pull them on and keep running until I join the solemn procession of children and teenagers getting registered for the lottery.

 

I slow down. My heart is beating painfully fast, and my breath is a bit shallow.

My name is only in there once. Finnick’s was much more, and so was Annie's and so was Mags…the probability of me getting chosen is so slim…but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t scared. At least, I’m scared until I see my little cousin joining the boy’s line. He’s only twelve, at least I’m almost sixteen.

Then I’m only worried about my little cousin and the other little kids and Annie…I don’t pay any attention to those around me, lost in thoughts that are all but rebellious until someone taps my shoulder.

 “Josie-phine!” says a jolly voice, “How’re doing?” I can’t help but twitch my lips up into a smile, even with the gravity of the situation. Sky Allwright may be a citizen of the Capitol, but he’s okay. As the official liaison of District 4, he’s helped out with every Hunger Games since I was eight – which means he’s worked with Finnick every year he’s been a part of the elaborate ritual involving the Games. I know Sky because he was the one to interview me during Finnick’s games and then every after when they do their annual catch-up on favorite past victors. Finnick’s always been a favorite… _Don’t think about that either._

“Hey, Sky,” I reply. I turn and give him a smile, “How are you?” Then I do a double-take.

Sky laughs, “Like it?” he asks, flipping his shocking neon blue curls out of his face. “Got it done especially for the games. Blue like the ocean, get it?”

“Sky,” I say firmly, “The ocean isn’t that color.”

He looks a bit crestfallen and I can’t help but add, “But it brings out the blue in your eyes.” He has blue and green speckled eyes…speckled….I don’t even understand why.

He smiles again, once again his bubbly self. “I’ve got to go to the stage, have a good day!”

“Yeah,” I say grimly, watching his bright blue hair weave its way through the crowd. “A good day.”

 

Sky climbs onstage and the Capitol’s video about war begins and I’m once again thinking about Annie. Was she watching? Finnick probably wouldn’t let her….so was he watching? I had mixed feelings about that one. On one side I could be picked – I probably wouldn’t but I could – and I wanted my brother watching…though I’m not sure why since it would do no one any good. On the other side, it Annie saw it she’d probably fall to pieces and she wasn’t one to wait in another room quietly by herself…I almost wished we’d sedated her like Johanna, a past victor from District 10 had suggested. Finnick had yelled at her for that one…

I’m not paying any attention until I hear Sky say, “And now, ladies first!” I hate the cheerfulness in his voice and I wonder how he can be so happy, he’s seen about six pairs of tributes die, minus Finnick.

He’s pulled the paper. He’s cleared his throat and now he’s staring at it.  _Why isn’t he talking?_ I wonder. He clears his throat again and says, “Josephine Odair!”

 “What!?” it escapes me involuntarily.

  _But my name…only in there once…how…?_ I feel like all the air has been crushed out of my lungs. And… _oh god, oh god…Finnick? Are you even watching?_

I feel alone. Mags is on the train, Annie and Finnick are probably on the beach. I have friends in the crowd but its not the same. I need to start walking, the peacekeepers are moving in on me. Sky is talking, telling the crowd that Finnick is my brother. _They know, they know!_  Why is the stage so close now? I don’t remember walking to it…I climb the stairs…my clean shoes a sharp contrast with the dirty wood… _oh Annie, did you know you cleaned them for this? To walk me to what may be my death?_

I stand on the stage, and I look at the ocean shining behind the crowd. I can’t help the tears that start to form in my eyes.

 

* * *

 

  **Ash – District Twelve**

“Ash!!!!” I hear the scream then feel a small body land on me. I only got home from the mines an hour ago and had just fallen asleep when the family goofball jumps on me.  

 “Macie! Get out of Ash’s room! Let him sleep! He was out this morning!” my mom whispers as she steps into my room. “Oh! You’re awake. Sorry, honey, I was trying to let you sleep more but this goof decided she wanted a playmate, though she has four out there!” 

“It’s okay, mom,” I say chuckling. I pull Macie to my chest. “As long as I get a cuddle buddy.”

My mom smiles at us.

“How much longer do I have?” I ask hesitantly.

“A couple of hours. Get some rest,” she answers, then leaves the room, closing the door behind her. 

Macie flips over so she’s looking at me and asks in her innocent five-year-old voice, “What’s today?”

“The reaping for the Hunger Games,” I reply evenly, this isn't something I want to explain. 

 “What’s reaping mean?” Macie asks innocently.

“What’s with all the questions? Don’t worry about it. Now, I need some sleep so either sleep with me or go play with Derek,” I flick her nose compassionately. 

I’ve tried to have my name put as little as possible in the dreaded bowl, but in District Twelve it was a struggle to avoid. And, as the oldest, I need to look after all the others. I don’t even remember how many times my name is in there and I really don’t want to think about it. 

 “I want to stay with you,” Macie says in her sweet little voice as she lays her head on my arm. 

I hear the door creak open and I looked over to see Jaxx, my thirteen-year-old brother, standing in my doorway. “Can I sleep with you too?” I nod, noticing the tear stains on his face as he approaches. I scoot to the far edge as he crawls in on the other side of Macie. 

 

I close my eyes and quickly fall asleep. I wake to my mom stroking my forehead. “Sweetheart, time to get ready.” 

I close my eyes and stretch, and hit something with my foot. I look down to see Coley curled up with her head on my chest, Macie curled up by my side, Jaxx curled around her and Derek by my feet. I stroke Coley’s hair out of her face, startling her awake. She looks at me, nods, then climbs off me. She stretches and walks to her room. Then I flex my fingers and scratch Jaxx’s back, waking him.

 I whisper, “It’s time.” He nods and rolls off the bed. There’s a thud and an “oomph” 

“I’m sorry Leo! I didn’t see you there!” Jaxx says. I sit up to see Leo, my ten-year-old brother, and Jaxx in a tangle on the floor. Apparently, Leo had also wanted to join the pile in my closet-like room but had opted for curling himself on the worn rug in his blanket. Leo’s glaring at Jaxx but a smile is tugging at his lips.

I smile at them and crawl out of bed, picking up Leo and putting him on the bed in my spot. I ruffle his hair then grab my nice clothes and walk into the wash room to wash up before the reaping. When we finish cleaning ourselves up, I pick up Leo and squeeze him tight. Then I pick up Macie and Derek, one in each arm and squeeze them too. They each get a kiss on their cheeks. “We’ll see you soon,” I tell them. “Hold down the fort for me while I’m gone.” I flick Leo on the end of his nose. My three youngest siblings nod. 

 

Jaxx, Coley and I walk out the door. Coley jumps on my back, just like we do every year when we go to the reaping together. Jaxx walks behind us a bit till Coley grabs his hand and holds it so he was walking with us. We turn the corner out of our ‘neighborhood’ and we see someone familiar.  

“Dad! Hi!” Coley says as she jumps off my back and goes to give him a hug. 

“Hey kids! Collette, no hugs I’m full of dust,” he says with a smile and backing away from Coley. For some reason, I’m the only person who is allowed to call Collette, “Coley.” 

“I’m giving my dad a hug I don’t care,” she says stepping into his arms. He smiles and kisses her forehead. Then, he turns to me and holds out a hand for a handshake but I pull him in for a hug too. It’s Reaping Day, we have to show affection sometime and if it’s ever, today is the day. My dad and I have gotten used to not hugging or touching in public, now that we both work in the mines. But today, I care as little as Coley does about dust.

He gives a hug to Jaxx and ruffles his hair then says, “I’ll see you guys in the square. May the odds be ever in your favor.” He grins, trying to lighten the mood. Then, dad turns the corner and is gone. Coley jumps on my back and this time, Jaxx takes her hand without hesitation, then he loops his arm through mine. 

 

We walk into the square and go to check in.

I give a hug to Coley and kiss her forehead. We sit there for a minute, with her in my arms. “Everything will be fine, Coley. I promise,” I say looking her in the eyes and kissing her forehead once more before she turns and walks away. 

 I turn to Jaxx just in time to see him finish hugging a girl his age, the older Everdeen girl who lives right next door. The little sister is Leo's age and, luckily, is outside of the reaping this year. As they let go, I give the Everdeen girl - she has a strange name, Katniss, I think - a comforting smile and she returns it as best she can. Then I gently put a hand on Jaxx' shoulder and lead him away. 

 As we approach, he starts hyperventilating. I make him stand in his spot before kneeling down so I’m eye level with him. “Everything’s going to be fine. Your name is only in there once. Breathe. You know how. Pull yourself together. It’s gonna be ok.” I reassure him. He nods and I stand up and hug him. He holds on tight for a long minute.

 

“Children, please make your way to your spot!” Announces a stressed official. 

 

I let go and walk away, glancing back one last time to see he’s put on an expressionless face, looking forward. I make it to my spot and give a head nod to my best mate, Nano. Or second best mate, I'm never going to love anyone quite the same way I love Coley, my little shadow.

Effie Trinket comes out and gives her stupid speech and whatnot. I don’t pay attention. I find Coley’s head and I’m searching for Jaxx’s when Effie announces that she’s picking the girls first. 

I start to sweat as she picks up the slip of paper and walks back to the microphone. All I can think is about my sister, my best friend. I chant silently, _Please not Coley._

 “Collette Faunen!”

 

 I can’t breathe. I press my fingers into my eyes to stop the tears from falling. _Not now. They can’t fall now. I have to be strong for Coley._

I see her walk up the stairs, pale. She isn’t crying or crumpling to the ground which I see as a good sign. This would be a terrible time for her seizures to come back. She's always been so small and pale...how can she be in the Hunger Games,  _how?_

I keep my eyes on her as she searches the crowd for me. We lock eyes and she doesn’t look away. Effie congratulates “Collette Faunen,” then walks to the boy’s bowl. She picks a slip. I look away from Coley’s stiff form to the back of Jaxx’s head.

_They can’t both in the Games._ I can’t help but chant in my head _: Please not Jaxx._ _If anyone is listening, please,_ please  _not Jaxx, too._

“Ash Faunen!”

I let out a sigh of relief; _it wasn’t Jaxx_. Then I look up and realize everyone was staring at me. 

"Ash Faunen?"

_Crap._

****

* * *

 

**Finnick – District Four**

“I want to watch, Finnick.”

“Annie, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I tell her gently.

She shakes her head, curls bouncing every which way.

“If I’m not going to mentor the least I can do is know their names…I…I won’t be able to watch the games but I want to know their names…”

I kiss her gently. “Okay, let’s go.”

I lead her to the TV and turn it on. I’m watching her, though, not the screen.

“Sky’s hair…is…blue?” Annie says. I glance at the screen and do a double-take.

“What is he supposed to be?” I ask, bewildered. “A neon blueberry?”

“He looks like a coral fish…”

Her voice is strained. She’s trying to be cheerful, but I hear the hysteria in the back.

“It’s okay, Annie,” I tell her soothingly, rubbing her shoulders.

   
“The female tribute is...” Sky’s voice trails off. Something is wrong. Annie and I turn and watch the TV. He gulps twice, before announcing, “Josephine Odair!”  


I can’t breathe. It feels as if I’m drowning.  The cameras zoom in on my sister; I see the shock on her face, and then, the fear.

 “Nooooo!” The shout of denial is torn from me before I can stop it. I’m on my feet, but I don’t remember standing. “No, no! Please, no! Not my sister...not my little sister...”

_I remember killing those kids, I remember feeling their blood, hot and sticky, raining down on me as I stuck that damn golden trident through their hearts as they begged for me to spare their lives._  


“Blood! Blood!” Annie is shouting, rocking back and forth, staring at her hands. “So much blood!”

“Annie, Annie!” I grab her. I’m sobbing, my heart is breaking. But I have to stop her before she hurts herself, “Annie, look at me! Please, look at me!” She doesn’t. She just stares at her hands. “Annie, you’re not in the games! It’s okay, okay...”

“Lies!” Annie shrieks. “Lies! She’ll die! Blood everywhere and she’ll die! And if she doesn’t, if she doesn’t…!”

I’m sobbing, I just want to run and run and never look back. Just follow the beach until the end of time. But I have two girls to protect, two... _oh god, oh god. Not my sister, not the only person I have left who the games haven’t touched.._.my blood freezes in my veins and Snow’s face swims before me.   _No, no you wouldn’t..._

But he would.  
 

“Finnick! Annie!” Mags is here. She grabs Annie away from me and sits her back down. She’s calming her down while I stand there dumbly.  _My fault. All my fault._

“Mags...” I try to begin, to explain.

 “Get out!” Annie screams at me.

“What?” I stare.

“Get out and keep her alive! Damn you! Don’t come back until she’s won! Don’t come back without her! You hear me? You’re nothing if she dies! Nothing! She can’t die...she can’t…die…"

“Annie,” her name escapes my lips as a whisper. I want to hug her, kiss away her fear, but the horror in me is overwhelming.

“Out!” She screams. “Out!” One part of my mind realizes that this is Annie trying to help but too caught up in her own panic to do it properly.

“Finnick, go!” Mags says firmly.

"But…”

“I’ve got her! Go! Your sister needs you, young man,” she’s scolding me as if I were still fourteen. “Be her mentor and bring your sister home.”

I nod and run. But not to the train - straight to the tributes. They get visitors and I can’t wait. Josie needs to know I saw...because I left her there alone to get called into the games.

_Oh god, what have I done?_  
  



	3. Last Goodbye

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The reaping is done, now the journey to the games must begin.

**Ash – District Twelve**

I lock eyes with Coley again as I make my way to the stage. When I get to Jaxx’s row, I stop momentarily. Nano is holding his head right at the edge of the row, both of them are crying silently. Jaxx must have run toward me, but Nano stopped him. I wipe the tears off Jaxx' face and ruffle his hair before walking up the stairs onto the stage. I look at Coley and we just stand there staring at each other.

I faintly hear Effie saying something along the lines of, “You _must_ be siblings, but you two look nothing alike!”

The ceremony ends and we are ushered inside. Once we’re inside the door I crouch down and Coley jumps on my back without a word. We follow the two Peacekeepers into a room and one of them speaks: “This one is for the girl, the boy needs to come with us to the next room.” 

We stare at him. He looks uncomfortable so I speak up, “Can’t we both stay here? We’re siblings.”

He looks confused, then shakes his head. “Sorry, no can do. Regulation. Boy comes with me.”

I turn to look at Coley. I can tell that she’s about to cry so I hug her. “Shhh, it’s gonna be ok. I’ll be with you every step of the way. I’ll be in a different room but not for long. Be strong. I’ll see you soon.”

She nods and let go. I kiss her forehead and follow the Peacekeeper into another room down the hall.

 

I sit on the coffee table, too anxious to sit on the couch. After five minutes of waiting, Nano walks into the room with tears on his face. I stand up and he pulls me into a hug and just holds me. Tears start running down my face as he hisses, tears thickening his voice, “You can do it. I know you can. I love you man. Try. Please try. You’re my best friend,” he mutters into my ear.

“I can’t," I choke out.

He pulls back to get a good look at my face, shocked.

"Please understand," I say. I _beg._  "My goal is to get Collette home. Please forgive me. My baby sister is who I want to come home. Please understand.”

"I...I understand," Nano whispers. He can't stop the tears anymore. "You two are like peas in a pod...I understand...but, man, Ash...I wish..." He gets cut off by one of the Peacekeepers coming in and literally pulling Nano away. He holds on with a death grip, screaming nonsense through his tears. I squeeze his arm one last time then I let go and let the Peacekeeper drag him from the room. 

"Take care of them!" I yell, right before the door slams shut. I collapse onto the couch, trying, but failing, to control the tears. 

_I don’t want to die, but my sister’s life comes first._

I’m left alone for a couple of minutes before the door opens again and my family tumbles in. My dad, stoic, showing no emotion but showing them all. My mom, in hysteria, crying, her whole shirt wet with tears. Jaxx, pale, staring, tears constantly flowing down his face, yet no sound escapes him. Leo and Derek run up to me with tears on their faces. Macie, a little slow to catch up, with identical tears pouring down her face. 

“Ash, are you going to the Hunger Games like Coley?” she asks as I pick up my youngest siblings and sit them on my lap as I sit on the couch.

“Yes, I am Macie,” I answer her softly. She’s quiet after that.

“My babies! This isn’t fair!” my mom screams and starts a new wave of tears. I untangle myself from the kids and pull her into a hug and whisper “Shh.” I stroke her hair.

My dad comes up behind me and hugs both me and my mom. Soon the rest of the family is in a hug, the only person missing is Coley. 

We stay like that for a bit till I pull back and look at my family. “Dad, Mom, I love you and I’m so sorry. It’s not fair Collette and I are in the same year. There can only be one victor. I will fight my hardest to make sure Collette comes out of this.”

My dad gives me a grim look and opens his mouth to say something but I press on. “Jaxx, you’re the man of the house now, with dad. Take care of mom. And Leo and Derek and Macie. Protect them. Don’t do anything stupid. You’re the best little man ever.”

Jaxx buries his face in my shirt and sobs. He hasn't said a word. Normally that would worry me but I can't do anything about it now. I turn to Leo. “Leo, keep Derek and Macie out of trouble. Keep building those gadgets, they'll be useful one day. You're going to be a great man someday." 

Leo nods, balling his hands into fists. "Derek, grow up and be strong. You will be, when you're ready," I say turning to the youngest two. "And Macie, sweet, baby girl. Stay sweet. Don’t let the world change you. I love you all.” They come back in for a hug. 

Seconds later – too soon, way too soon – the Peacekeeper storms in shouting “Times up!” He pulls them out the door. Mom is crying hysterically, dad has finally let a few tears slip, and the rest are bawling. I grab Jaxx’s arm before he can be pulled out.

“Under my mattress, I wrote letters," I shout desperately. "Find them, promise me you’ll do it. Please!” I shout desperately.

“I promise!” he shouts as he is pulled out of the room.

I scream “I love you!!” over and over till I can no longer hear my family screaming, even with my ear pressed against the keyhole.

****

* * *

 

  
**Josie – District Four**  
  
My uncle and aunt came first. And then Keri and Maria and Nick. All wishing me luck, telling me that I can win. My brother won so I can too. But everyone cries as they say it.

“You can win.”

Maybe. But I wasn’t a career - I learned some stuff but not really. What can I do that will help me beat those angry eyes from districts one and two.  
My friends leave and I back against a wall. _It’s okay_ , I tell myself. _Mags will see you on the train and Finnick.._.I want my brother. I want him so badly...I begin to cry quietly. I’ve seen what the Games do to the winners and still, I don’t want to die. I’m scared, so scared...

The door opens with a bang and my brother is there, panting, tear stains on his cheeks.

“Josie...” He tries to begin but I fly across the room into his arms.

“You saw,” I choke out.

Finnick closes the door behind him and lets himself slide down the wall, I curl up on his lap, trembling. I’m trying hard to stem my tears. “Oh, Josie,” he breathes, “Of course...I shouldn’t have let you go to the reaping alone.”

“I...my name...only once,” I don’t even know what I’m trying to say anymore, I just hold onto my brother.

“No,” I can feel his tears on my head as he hugs me close, “This is my fault. Snow did this to punish me for stopping.”

I pull away. He looks so sad, but underneath the tears I see anger.  _And so we go,_ I think. _Anger is much more helpful than fear._ “You think so,” I ask.

“I know,” he whispers, “I have no proof but I’m sure.”

“Then let’s show him he made a mistake,” I whisper back. I feel anger boiling in my veins; I’m still terrified but I’m angry too. He nods, his face set.

“I’m going to help you win,” he tells me firmly. “We’re coming home together.”

The Peacekeeper knocks and sticks his head in; “Sir, you need to leave.”

“I’m going to the train anyway,” Finnick complains. “Can’t I…”

“Protocol, sir,” the peacekeeper says sternly.

Finnick rolls his eyes and stands. I do too, wiping away my tears.

“So you on the train,” he tells me. He manages his wry smile, “About time I show you the Capitol.” I try to laugh, but no sound comes out.

 

_I’m in the Hunger Games._ There’s no room for any other thought.

 

* * *

 

**Finnick – District Four**

 

_I hate him._ There’s no room for any other thought. I hate Snow and I hate myself for not seeing that this was going to happen.

“Finnick!”  I force myself not to roll my eyes or snap at the approaching figure. Sky with his annoying beacon of hair is running towards me.

“Sky,” I sigh, “I’m really not in the mood…”

“This is important!” Sky says, his hands are shaking. I stare into his speckled eyes. I’ve never seen him this agitated.

“What is it?” I ask.

“How many times was Josie-phine in the reaping?” he asks.

“What type of question…? One of course!” I’m furious at him. How dare he even think that I would allow for her name to be in more than once when I have so much money?

“I thought so…I mean, I know that you have so much money and…but…”

Something’s wrong.

“Sky,” I prompt, forcing myself to be calm, “Why did you ask?”

“Because,” he swallows and looks around nervously. We’re alone, but still, he beckons me closer. He’s tall and wearing these ridiculously high heels to boot so he has to lean down to whisper in my ear.

“When I was putting the bowls away,” he whispers. I can feel his hands trembling. “I noticed that some of the slips weren’t folded very well. I looked down and…I saw her name at least two more times...I followed the attendants...I unfolded some...Finnick...I think hers might have been the _only_ name...”

I stop breathing.

I pull away and stare at him. He nods, tears welling up in his eyes. He looks terrified. 

“Don’t…” I gasp out, “Don’t tell anyone.”

“I know,” he whispers. He visibly pulls himself together and says, as cheerfully as ever, “See you on the train, Mr. Odair!”

“Yeah. See you then.”

I just have to kiss Annie good-bye first.

****


	4. The Long Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dark thoughts follow the tributes (and past victors) on the train ride to the Capitol.

**Ash – Train, on Route to the Capitol**

When I finally meet up with Coley again, she jumps on my back without a word. The car ride to the train is full of tears, and useless blabber streaming from Effie’s mouth. We enter the train and are ushered down a couple cars. Coley is on my back as the train starts and I stumble and almost fall. We sit down on a soft couch. 

Haymitch, our “mentor,” comes stumbling in, obviously drunk, mumbling something and passes out cold in his seat. 

I kinda zone out after that. Effie offers us food and all this stuff rambling on about the Capitol. I finally interrupt her to ask where I can use the restroom and sleep. Coley jumps on my back again and we walk to another compartment. I plop Coley onto the bed, go to the bathroom, then curl up next to Coley. I mean to sleep, but my head is buzzing with disconnected thoughts.  

“Ash, please promise you won’t risk your life for me,” Coley whispers, abruptly sitting up.

“I can’t promise that,” I whisper back, raising myself on my elbows to look her in the eye. 

“Please. Everyone needs you more than me,” she says. 

“That’s not true!” I'm so shocked it comes out as a shout.

“Yes it is and you know it! You’re a boy! You can work and help the family and all I can do without being a scandal is pop out babies and I don’t want to do that!” she yells back.  

“I need you. Please, don’t throw your life away,” I bring the volume down. “Please.”

“I can’t promise that,” she echoes me. 

My head snaps up to look her in the eyes. “Collette, don’t you dare – “ I start.

“No!” she cuts me off. “You need to listen! The kids adore you! You’re strong! You have a life ahead of you! I don’t have a very promising one! You need to win!” Tears are streaming down her face. “Please...” she finishes desperately.

I can't believe I'm hearing this. Then a stroke on inspiration. “Then promise me one thing,” I reply. She looked at me questioningly. “Don’t die on purpose.”

She opens her mouth, then closes it, looking at me confused.

“You _have_ to promise me that you won’t just throw yourself into the first bloodbath that happens at the cornucopia. I wouldn’t be able to stand it if you died right away. I’d have nothing to fight for. Please?” I look at her desperately. “I’d be empty. I need you, please.” 

I take one of her hands in mine. We stay like that for a minute. She finally responds, “I promise.”

 

* * *

 

**Josie – Train, on Route to the Capitol**

“…ever in your favor!” finishes Cesar Flickerman. The TV went into the whole Hunger Games anthem and Finnick shut off the TV.

“Could be worse,” Finnick says. “One and Two are lethal, as usual. But sometimes we get strong competitors from Seven or Ten like Johanna Mason two years ago. Luckily for us, it seems like everyone else is pretty norm…”

“Cut the crap, Odair,” Seaweed snaps.

Finnick stares and I scoot away from my fellow tribute Sean Weedon, although everyone at school knows him by his nickname, Seaweed.

“What’s your problem, Seaweed?” Finnick says, recovering quickly.

Seaweed jumps to his feet and begins to pace. “What’s my problem?” he repeats. “My problem is that I know that you’ll do everything to help your little sis win these damn games and to hell with me.”

“What type of person do you think I am?” Finnick says coolly. “I’m not throwing you to the sharks.”

“I think you’re the Capitol sweetheart who doesn’t care about anyone except himself,” Seaweed snaps back.

Finnick closes his eyes and breathes deeply. I glare at Seaweed. He doesn’t know anything.

 

“Even if that’s true,” Finnick replies even more coolly, “How is that your problem?”

“My problem is that you’re going to do everything to help Jo win,” Seaweed says darkly, glaring at Finnick with blue eyes the color of a stormy ocean. “I’m as good as dead already.”

“Listen here, Seaweed,” Finnick growls, “I’m not ditching you before the Games have even begun. Yes, Josie is more important to me, but can you blame me? You have a younger sister too. What would you do if you were me?”

The two boys glare at each other and I sit uncomfortably between them. Seaweed looks away first. He looks deflated. “I’d help them try to win,” he mutters.

Finnick nods, but he doesn’t look pleased about winning this little show of male ego - he looks sad.

“But I don’t want to die,” announces Seaweed. He ignores Finnick as my brother begins to speak and turns to me. “My best chance is to stick with you, so here’s a proposition. We’re allies no matter what until there are only four people left besides us and then we split. Deal?”

I look at him carefully. Seaweed is muscled and strong from days spent deep-sea fishing with his family, has a reputation for being good in a crisis. We’ve been friends for years and, somehow, it makes everything just so much more terrible. Our parents used to have beach bonfires together when we were little.

“Deal,” I tell him. We shake on it and Finnick looks visibly less worried.

Sky comes bouncing in. “Dinner!” He announces.

* * *

 

**Finnick – Still on the Train**  


Seaweed and Josie are asleep already. I’m sure Sky is too. I’m alone in the dining car watching the world flash by through the windows. A full glass of liquor is in front of me. If I were Haymitch - the only victor from District Twelve - I would have drained it and be on my third or fourth glass. If I were Brutus from District Two or anyone else from District One I would be strategizing; feeling a strange, perverse sense of pleasure at the prospect of grooming someone to b the victor. Instead, I’m exhausted. I want to be anywhere but here on a train on my way to watch my sister in the Hunger Games.

I hear the door slide open and Josie is standing there. I open my arms and she snuggles into them as if she were still five years old. I stroke her hair as the train zooms away...  
  
And finally pulls into the station. Seaweed is posing in front of the windows, nodding with a small smile that someone might read as cheeky. Josie is quite a crowd pleaser; waving at everyone with a bright smile and throwing kisses. I, too, play my part to perfection. I wave at the crowd and smile happily to faces I recognize, making signals to those that I know will want to call me later...because Snow sent me a message. Just three words: “Start again or...”  
_Fill in the blank, Finnick._ That letter said. _Fill it in carefully or you’ll never see your sister again._

But that air-head crowd doesn’t know that. They only see me in a light gold shirt and loose pants. They only see me and my little sister who suddenly isn’t so little anymore as she flirts with the crowd that cheers her name.

I put my hand on her shoulder and the crowd goes wild.

“Well,” I whisper to her as the train enters the tunnel. “You won’t lack sponsors.”


	5. The Capitol

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The parade at the Capitol, and the moment that Josie and Ash first look each other in the eye...and see a mirror where they should have seen a competitor.

**Josie – the Capitol**  
  
As I am ushered from one room to the next in the Capitol, my thoughts are scattered. _So much food - enough to feed my district for months – and such a large room - and I thought Finnick’s house was big!_ But what I really don’t understand is why they need to “prepare me.” It sounds as if they’re fixing a piece of meat to be cooked or something...

They rip hair off my body and pluck my eyebrows and try to trim my hair but I fight them on that until they agree to leave my long hair at its present length. I can almost sit on it - do they even, with feathers instead of hair and curls so tight they look like they’ve been glued on, understand how long it took me to get my hair like this? I hear them complain about how they can’t change my eyes or fix my nose. What the heck is wrong with my nose?

I’m tired and irritable - although I must admit clean - when the man with silver eyes enters the room.

“Josephine Odair,” he smiles at me.

“Yes;” I say a bit rudely. My skin still stings from the scrubbing they gave me.

“I’m Song Ternudo,” he says, “I’ll be your stylist.”

“And those three were...?”

“My assistants.”

“Oh.” I’m not sure what to think as he walks around me. I pull the robe tighter. It’s sheer but at least it’s something.

He smiles at me gently. “Josephine, I won’t hurt you. If it makes you more comfortable I can give you some undergarments to wear for now but I need to see you standing straight and looking ahead. Otherwise, I can’t imagine the outfits on you.”

“If you can...I’d like...”

“I’ll get them for you,” he assures me and walks into a closet.

My face burns with shame. Finnick does worse all the time and I can’t even stand naked in front of a man who is going to be my stylist? But I can’t, I can’t...

He returns and dutifully closes his eyes and I change into a tight black bra and small black shorts. I feel completely comfortable in this - it’s like a swimsuit after all.

“Okay,” I say, and he turns around. Instantly, his face lights up.

“Perfect!” he declares. “Perfect! I can make you a sea nymph! You’ll be wearing a cropped, light blue top and a long skirt that becomes a darker blue, with a bit of green thrown in, as you go down! You’ll look as if you just stepped out of a wave! And a coral crown! What do you think?”

It sounds amazing and I tell him that. Soon I’m wearing it in front of the crowd. I wave from a chariot and find myself staring at President Snow; the man who is the cause of all this. My heart burns with hatred I have never felt before – that girl from District Twelve looks as if she is barely twelve!

District Twelve: I haven’t thought about them much but District Twelve has been getting as much media as me. All because a brother and a sister got reaped at the same time. He’s older and hugs her protectively as we get onto the carriages and begin to please the crowd. I play my part to perfection and I’m relieved when it’s over.

 

As soon as that awful parade ends, Finnick helps me down from the carriage. “You were brilliant!” He tells me, giving me a hug. “The crowd loved you!”

“Don’t they see how sick this is?” I hiss into his ears. “They’re...celebrating a slaughter or something!”

“Anything that makes it easier for you to win is good in my eyes,” he replies just as softly.

“It’s...” My gaze focuses on that little girl from Twelve, her brother is helping her down from the carriage as Haymitch totters around by himself. They’ll see each other suffer and die. “How can anyone...?” I don’t know how to put my thoughts, my feelings, into words.

Finnick follows my gaze and swallows. “I know,” he replies. “I know, Josie.”

A loud bang makes us both jump. Haymitch has stumbled into one of the carriages.

Johanna Mason sneers at him; “Watch it.”

“Do you, pretty lady,” Haymitch slurs at her, leaning heavily on the carriage. “Realize the importance of these games? What an event! Two pairs of star-crossed siblings! Tsk. Tsk.”

Johanna glances back at us and raises a haughty eyebrow at Finnick. Finnick glares at Haymitch. The mentor from District Eleven, an older woman with a drawn face scowls at Haymitch; “Haymitch, go to bed. You’re even drunker than usual. It’s appalling.”

I glance at the pair of tributes from Twelve. The little girl is pressed against her brother, and he has one arm around her protectively. He glares at Haymitch while she looks frightened.

“I think it’s appalling that none of you are drunk,” Haymitch slurs back.

“Get away,” Johanna says rudely, ushering her tributes away from him.

“What do you think, pretty lady,” Haymitch breathes into her face. He leans very close, “Have a drink and a little something else with me?”

Johanna slaps him with all the strength she can muster. Haymitch goes flying and leaps to his feet with a roar of anger. A knife is in his hand.

He tries to leap at her but is restrained by almost every other mentor except for Finnick who rushes to restrain Johanna. She yells at Haymitch “Never get close to me! Ever! You hear me?”

“How dare you...!” Haymitch is red-faced. “You won’t leave this arena if it’s the last thing I...!”

“Haymitch!” Finnick snaps at him. He sits Johanna down on a bench, glares at her and runs to stand right in front of Haymitch’s face. “Haymitch! Who am I?”

Haymitch struggles to focus before saying slowly, as he stops fighting, “Pretty Boy Odair.”

“That’s right,” Finnick says, “And when did I win the games?”

Haymitch is still. “Long time after me,” he mutters, “Let me go.” He totters over to a bench a sits down. He looks disorientated and angry.

“Someone should get him back to his room,” Finnick says. Everyone looks at him and he sighs. “Josie...”

“I’m fine,” I tell him. “Get Mr. Drunk home before he gets on camera.” Finnick hauls Haymitch to his feet and leads him to the elevator, cursing all the while.

 

Everyone else disperses and I’m passing the siblings from Twelve when I hear the girl whisper to her brother, “Ash, how do we get back?” Ash looks around a bit nervously, obviously confused, and I approach them.

“Hi,” I say. I keep my distance just in case and, sure enough, the girl looks scared and Ash looks suspicious. “Since we’re going the same way, can we talk?”

Ash nods suspiciously; “Sure.”

I begin walking and Ash falls into step behind me after his sister jumps on his back. Something inside me twists painfully - they’re like me and Finnick before his games.

“Haymitch must be...uh...”

“An awful mentor,” Ash grumbles.

“He doesn’t care about us at all,” his sister adds sadly.

“But he must know he can get a ton of sponsors for you,” I say. “A brother and sister? The Capitol must love it.”

“No,” Ash says, stopping abruptly, “They love _you_. The little sister of Finnick Odair! Or didn’t you hear how the crowd cheered when you entered the stadium?”

“They love me know because of my brother,” I counter. “Finnick can’t help me in the arena.”

“Sponsors can,” he says pointedly.

“You, too,” I say.

“Haymitch won’t help,” the little girl says. I focus on her. She’s half-hiding behind her brother’s shoulder, but her dark, intelligent eyes are watching me steadily.

“Maybe not,” I tell her. “But Finnick would.”

“We’re District Twelve,” Ash says a bit rudely.

“But if we’re allies imagine how much money we could get,” I tell him. “Two pairs of siblings fighting for their lives! That’s how they’ll see it. They want a show - we’re giving them a novel as good as a modern fairy-tale!” She looks confused. He looks doubtful. I sigh. “Think about it.” I turn to leave.

“Can you use a trident?” Ash asks unexpectedly.

I look at him. “Not as well as my brother...but I never miss with a spear…or a harpoon, not that they would ever offer me one in the arena. And you? What can you do?”

“Down in the mines, I’m known for precision work with pikes - a heavy spear will work the same. And I’m strong.” His sister doesn’t say anything, just regards me steadily with large dark eyes. “And she’s fast,” her brother adds, “And she’s smart and can hide anywhere.”

“I’d take you as an ally,” I say softly. “Both of you; we’ll have a better chance together.”

He pauses for a moment, exchanges a glance with his sister and says, “I agree.” 

“Shake on it,” I say, extending my hand. He takes it, and then, with an embarrassed look. “Um...what’s your name?”

I almost laugh. “I’m Josephine...but call me Jo.”

“Ash,” he replies. “And this is Collette.” Collette shakes my hand too. As we get in the elevator, I remember to add. “I’m also allies with the boy from my district...but I won’t trust him once there are only six people left.”

Ash nods; “Good to know.”

I get off on floor four and go to my room. I let the tears well to my eyes.

_She’s quick, Ash had said about Collette. But would she be quick enough?_

Finnick enters. “Josie? You okay?”

“Yes,” I say, hiding my face. Thank god my voice is steady. “I’m allies with the brother and sister from Twelve. Get every last pearl from that oyster, okay?”  
Finnick is silent for a while before replying, “Okay.”

 

The rest of the time at the capital is spent training.

“Don’t let them see your strengths,” Finnick caution Seaweed and me. “But don’t look totally helpless either.”

So I do archery and throw knives and hack a few things with an ax.  I don’t touch a trident or a spear – which what I’m good at. Although it turns out I’m pretty good with knives too, once I get used to the weight. I guess throwing something deadly is the same no matter what you’re throwing. Seaweed’s good at hand to hand. And Ash wasn’t lying, he’s good too. He’s strong, I can tell. Ash and I have a deal to meet up once the Games begin. So I have three allies, Seaweed, Ash, and Collette, and maybe more if the watching eyes of the boy from three tell me anything.

 

All too soon, I’m hugging my brother goodbye.

“See you in a few days,” he tells me.

“Yes,” I whisper. I give him a kiss on his cheek and follow Song into the transport.

 All too soon, I’m in the arena for the first time.

  ****

****

* * *

 

**Ash – the Capitol**

 

I can now breathe a little lighter knowing that there will be someone else watching Collette’s back. Training comes and soon we’ll all be thrown into an area with all the other tributes. Jo barely speaks to Collette and me, but every once in a while I catch her eye as she watches Collette and me working on something, just like I’m watching her. I start learning what comes naturally to me, to Collette, and what the other tributes like. I store this knowledge away and at night I talk and share with Collette on how we can take the other tributes down. Everything comes and goes quickly, and before I know it, I’m rising in the tube, entering the arena. 


	6. The Arena

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Games have begun.

**Josie – The Arena**

It would be beautiful if it weren't the Games. Lush forests filled with pines, oaks, and these strange tall trees I’ve never seen before. Bushes full of berries and small brush over the entire forest floor. A waterfall in the distance that thunders down into a river. There’s another river right behind me. There must be a lake where the two meet, somewhere below me in the trees. And we’re up high, on a small mountain made of granite and fallen logs. My dark green jacket and comfortable pants make sense now. My long hair is braided on my head. My token is my mother’s diamond engagement ring, passed down over generations.

The twenty-four tributes are positioned around the Cornucopia on this small mountain. There is no easy way down on my side...except for the river behind me that my ears tell me lead to another waterfall – not as impressive as the one in the distance, but dangerous all the same.

The countdown is almost over. I can’t see Ash, but Seaweed is two people to my left and Collette is three people down my right. Directly to my right is Glam from District One.

And in front of me, a trident. I want to rush for that weapon as soon as the countdown is over, but I know I can’t. What I SHOULD do is run for the backpack near the edge and get off this exposed rock. I see Glam bare her teeth and I notice that they’re sharpened. Her nails are pointed too. She decides to ignore me and her eyes focus on a set of knives near Collette. Collette looks at Glam; a look of terror flits across her face. Glam smiles at her - it’s a smile that says, “You’re dead.”

_Hell, no._

When the games begin; I’m ready. When that countdown reaches zero, something inside me snaps and I react with more fierceness than ever before. When that countdown reaches zero, I don’t go for the trident nor the backpack. I run at Glam.

She isn’t expecting it. As the bloodbath begins, I contribute. I hate myself for it later; but something snapped and all I could think was stay alive, keep Collette alive. I run at Glam so quickly, with so much force that she has no chance to think. My speed and her surprise carry us to the edge of the waterfall right behind me. I push her down and hear her scream, her body thrashing in the water.

_She can’t swim._

She hits her head on a rock and the cannon sounds. It lasted about two seconds.

I run back for a backpack and then get off that rock. I don’t get a weapon. I don’t see Collette or Ash or Seaweed. I may be crying. I feel someone’s eyes on me and someone might have called my name. I trip and tumble into the river; but in the water, I am safe.

 

* * *

**Ash – The Arena**

 

The Cornucopia stands in front of me, with all twenty-four of us standing around it. I scan the people, not worrying about the countdown or my surroundings – I’m looking for Collette and Jo. I can’t see them; they are probably on the other side of the Cornucopia, so I focus in on the countdown.

_Three seconds._

 A knife not too far away catches my eye. It’s hidden in the grass and I hope none of the other tributes see it.

Time runs out and I bolt to the knife as fast as I can. I grasp it in my hand and look up as I see the boy from Ten charging at me. I raise my knife to hold off his attack when a spear lodges itself in his shoulder and he goes down.

I back up until my back hits the Cornucopia, then I start walking along it to the back as I watch other tributes running and fighting. I kick something and crouch down, not looking cause there is a fight about thirty feet from me. I reach out and feel a backpack. I quickly look down, find the strap and throw it over my shoulders. I continue around the Cornucopia and spot a club-looking thing that I’ve never seen before. It’s a club, but has a ball on the end and sharp, one-inch spikes sticking out all over it. I pick it up by the handle – the only area without spikes – then turn to see the girl from Eleven come running around the corner and into the surrounding woods with two careers in hot pursuit. I don’t think as I take off after them.

It isn’t long till they catch the girl from Eleven in a clearing. One of the careers, both are boys, is on top of her, making her scream. I don’t think as I sprint at him and tackle him to the ground, off the girl. We fight for dominance, rolling on the ground, trying to get on each other; our hands locked on each other’s upper arms – no room to reach for weapons. 

I try to keep tabs on the girl and the other career boy, but they disappear into the thicket around us. I focus on fighting the boy on top of me.

 I finally roll and scramble, standing up and quickly shuffling away from him.

 

The clearing and surrounding area is, and my club thing at my feet. I pick it up and wield it, trying to look like I know how to use it. Career pulls a sword out of a scabbard around his waist. Then he charges at me. He swings his sword at my hip and I jump out of the way. Then I swing my club, no target in mind.

I mean, I’ve never used one – ever – so I was just kind of winging it. Literally. I narrowly miss, then step back out of his range.

 I keep stepping back to avoid his swinging sword and soon we are out of the little clearing and into the thicker woods, with trees all around us. 

 

I see a branch behind him and decide to take initiative. I charge at him, surprising him into a somewhat shock, but only for a second. Just as I am almost upon him, he reacts and thrusts his sword forward. But I am already a step ahead. I am spinning off to his right and I continue forward towards my branch. I jump up and grab the branch and pull myself up.

But not quick enough, for he had turned as soon as I passed him and had swung behind him, but only hit air. He realizes what I am doing and charges. My body is out of his range but he swings his sword at my feet and manages to hit just above my ankle. 

I keep climbing, till I am about fifteen feet above the other tribute.

He starts taunting me as soon as he recovers. “Is the little boy from the poor District of Twelve scared? Is he too scared to play with his friends?” his voice and face turn hard as he screams, “Come down and be a man!”

I just stare at him.

“What? The little boy scared that he might die? Is he scared that he won’t be able to protect his wimpy, little sister?” Again with the baby talk.

“Too scared your sister is dead?” he screams, starting to laugh now. “Don’t worry we’re taking care of her. Now come down so I can take care of you too!”

_Come on!_ I think.

I’m not a super good climber, but in District Twelve, if you don’t climb trees as a kid, you basically don’t have a childhood. So I climb a couple branches higher and look back down at him. 

Finally, he jumps up and grabs onto the branch I had used, and pulls himself up. I position myself right above him.

Once he is standing on that branch, he looks up at me. “Come on brother boy, don’t you know how to be a man and fight for your family? Why aren’t you with sister dear?” he looks away and tries finding different branches to pull himself up. 

I take the opportunity to find a gap in the branches and drop my club on him. It grazes his right ear then hit his shoulder and rolls off his back, but not before a couple large spikes dig into his skin. He screams and grabs his bloodied ear, screaming “I’ll kill you!” He climbs higher, breathing heavily.

I realize he will take too long to reach me, so I pull out my knife and climb down to him on the opposite side of the trunk. 

He doesn’t see me, he's not a great climber and is concentrating on getting up the tree, so I say, “Boo!” as I stick my head around the trunk. 

He jumps like a little girl, loses his footing and slips down a branch till his hands catch the branch right in front of me. 

I don’t think as I slash his knuckles.

He screams out again and falls the rest of the way out of the tree. He lands on his feet, but I hear a loud POP! and a crunch and he falls into his back and lies there screaming.

I quickly climb down to the lowest branch and jump the eight feet to the ground and somersault to reduce the impact on my legs and feet. 

Then I walk over to the screaming boy and slit his throat, just like I was taught in the training area. 

Before he is totally gone I say in his ear, “I’m so sorry, I never wanted to kill anyone. I’m just trying to save my sister.” 

 

A second later he stops trying to breathe and his body goes motionless. I'm surprised at how numb I feel. Shouldn't a feel something  _more_ after killing another kid like that?  I close his eyelids, grab his sword, unbuckle his scabbard from around his waist, find my club, and then take off at a run in the direction I think the cornucopia was in.

 

* * *

 

**Finnick – the “Game-Room”**

 

_I hate the game-room._

The damn game-room is a circular room reserved for the mentors. It has twenty-four screens spaced along the walls and three large screens in the center of the room that show the Capitol’s stations. The other twenty-four screens are meant to show each of the tributes. When one dies, his or her screen goes black. It’s linked to their trackers...sometimes mentors know someone is dead before the cannon sounds. I have to admit, it’s pretty well designed. No matter where you stand in the room you can see one of the central TVs. My favorite feature is that the smaller TVs have headphones so that you can tune out Cesar Flickerman’s irritating voice and still keep track of your tribute…or their enemies.

 But being in that room is almost as bad as being in the arena. The screens show death on every side.

Now, I think Snow does it to punish the previous victors. Now I think Snow does everything to punish the victors. I’m about as paranoid as Haymitch who has a knife in his pants…At least I’m not Johanna Mason – she openly carries an axe most days. Like today, she’s stroking it like a cat or something as she watches her two tributes join up with the career pack.

Josie is currently in the river. So she’s safe…for now.

_Thank God she survived the blood bath. But w_ _hy the hell did she attack Glam?_

I mean, I saw that Glam was looking at Collette but she would have gone for the knives first and that little girl would have ran away…maybe. My heart twinges with guilt _. Okay, probably not._

But as much as I sympathize with the Faunen kids, I can’t think about too much, because if I start rooting for those two, I won’t focus on helping Josie survive. So I have to remain as detached as possible.

_Yeah, fat chance._

A commotion takes place on Seaweed’s screen and I quickly switch headphones. It’s not like Josie is doing much in the river.

Seaweed is – for some inexplicable reason – fighting off the boy from Eleven who is trying to kill this small kid from Five or Six or….Three? I think Three because Beetee is glaring at the side of my head.

I take off one of the headphones and meet his gaze, a bit confused.

“Did they make an alliance?” I ask the previous victor from Three. Beetee’s all right. A bit old, but he’s nice.

“Not that I recall,” he replies. “But Spark chose to sulk in his room for most of training.”

I nod and look back. The boy from Eleven has run off, limping, and Seaweed is telling Spark something about rigging the lights during training. I lose most of the conversation because Haymitch starts to shout.

 

* * *

   **Ash – The Arena**

 

After reorienting myself four times, I finally make it to the clearing where it had all started. I scan the area; there are no tributes or supplies in sight, but then again, I can’t see the mouth of the Cornucopia. So there very well could be tributes in there. But I'm not about to just stroll into the open, without the cover I'd be an easy target. I remember hearing a river before the timer went off, and concentrate on listening for it. I can hear it in the distance so I assume that it's on the other side of the Cornucopia.  _If I were Jo Odair,_ I think.  _I'd head for the river. And if I were Coley, I would have followed Jo._ Or, at least, I hope that's what Coley did. We never thought we'd be separated right away. Which, in retrospect, was both naive and really,  _really_ stupid.  

I start to make my way around the Cornucopia, trying to stay hidden. I make my way like this until I can see the entrance of the Cornucopia. There is a boy sitting at the entrance, talking, but I can’t see to whom or hear what he is saying cause the river is loud enough now to drown out the words. I stand up where I am, trying to figure out how I'm going to get over to the water without alerting the other tributes. But then I see someone dash across that opening and my heart sinks. I recognize Coley at once and she is looking at me while running. She is trying to make it to cover before the careers see her from the mouth. 

I grip my club, holding my breath and praying she makes it. 

 

In an instant, everything turns for the worse. 

 

The careers spot her and grab their weapons, yelling as they sprint towards her.  

I take off towards Coley. Fear spurs me on and I easily catch up. "Hold this!" I yell, pushing the scabbard into her arms and then throwing her over my shoulder over her protests. The pack of five chasing us are disorganized enough that they fall behind by the time we reach the river. But I hear a harmless sounding whoosh right before a spear imbeds itself into the ground of the bank right next to us. I flinch and almost drop Coley.

"PUT ME DOWN!" she commands, grabbing for the spear. 

I jump into the river instead. 

The current immediately sweeps us apart and I fight to get to the surface. My body slams into a rock and I fight with one arm to grab a hold of it. I finally find a groove, grab on. Coley is swept into me, and I push her up before climbing next to her.

I check my surroundings for the careers, panting a bit. 

"Grab the spears," says Coley, as a mess of them float by. "We'll need them later!"

I nod and lunge to grab a couple at the same time as I hear another of those harmless sounding wooshes. But this time, it ends with a weird sort of thunk. _No._ I spin back around and see the spear lodged right beneath Coley's ribs, see my shock mirrored in her eyes right before she slips off the rock and into the water.

“NOOO!!!!!” I scream as I scramble to grab her, but her wet hand slips out of my grasp and she goes under the water. 

 

I stand up and search for her body, trying to decide where I need to jump. I don't see the Career who threw the spear and I don't even care to look. _Think, think!_ But I can't...I jump blindly from rock to rock, stumbling onto the shore. Tears are streaming down my face, but I don't remember starting to cry.  _Coley_. My little sister and best friend. Gone. Just like that. I wipe furiously at the tears on my face but they don’t stop. _I don’t even get to say goodbye._ Her body is just gone. Never for me to see it again.

I don’t know how I make it, but I finally stumble upon the lake and to my surprise, Jo, who is standing shin deep in the water.


	7. Siblings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Games have already changed the landscape of their lives, and they have barely begun.

**Josie – The Arena**

  
I don’t think of anything except following the fast current for a long time. I barely surface to breathe, I follow the water until I slide like a fish into a deep lake. I find where it is shallow and pull myself onto a rock. I take off my jacket and lay it in the sun. And then I just lie on the rock. It’s eerily quiet for a few minutes and then the cannons sound. I count eight and a shiver runs down my spine. Almost half of us are dead in the first few minutes.

I shake myself out of it and open my pack to examine my stash. Not bad for being outside of the Cornucopia: an empty water bottle, some dried meat, ten packs of water purifiers, a strong light rope, and my prizes a small penknife and a waterproof container filled with matches!

I close up the backpack and put the knife in my pocket. It’s small but better than nothing. I’m about to fill the water bottle when I notice something floating in the water. It’s caught on the rocks where the fast-moving river meets the lake...it looks like a dead body.

My first instinct is to leave, but then I see a spear floating next to it. I have no weapons and I have perfect aim – I need it. I look around carefully. I don’t see the killer. The body must have washed down the waterfall...for that matter, it may simply be Glam. But where did the spear come from? I pack all my things, including the jacket since the day is warm, and put on the backpack. I carefully walk around the lake and wade into the water. I only want to get the spear and run.

I grab hold and pull it free. The head turns with the movement.

It’s Collette.

The scream is out of my mouth before I can stop it. I clamp my hand across my mouth and look around nervously. Tears are starting to gather.

_Oh no, oh no..._

I examine her carefully. The blood in the water prevents me from seeing how she died. There’s blood on the spear but that could be from her holding it. I don’t know why she didn’t just run from the Cornucopia when I gave her the damn chance.

I suddenly feel angry at her for dying. I could have died saving her ass and now she’s just dead after the bloodbath?

Then I think of Ash and all the air goes out of my body.  _Oh, God..._  


I know how Finnick would react if I died. And I’m holding the spear...what if Ash thinks I killed her?  _I need to get out of here._

I hear a noise in the brush behind me and I spin around, holding the spear ready.

Ash appears. Tears are stained onto his cheeks. He’s covered in blood, his own or someone else’s I can’t tell, and he has this stupid spikey club, two more spears in one hand, and a sword in addition to his backpack. He looks grief stricken and somewhat crazy. The thought  _I'm going to die_ flashes through my head. 

He looks at his sister’s body and freezes. Then, he slowly looks at me. “It wasn’t me, I swear,” I tell him. I continue to hold the spear, just in case.

“I know,” he replies. His voice is remarkably steady. “I saw her die.”

I lower the spear slightly. “Are you...?”

“No,” he says. “But it doesn’t matter.” His dark eyes burn into mine. “If you died,” he asks, “What would your brother do?”

My breath catches. “I’m all the family he has,” I whisper. “He’d...” I can’t. Not on camera. Not here, in the arena, with a boy who might kill me. Ash nods, and extends the two spears towards me, pointy side facing him. “Here.”

I carefully step forward and grab them.

“Let’s find that kid from your district,” he says. He turns to leave.

“Ash,” I say. “Wait.” He stops and looks at me over his shoulder. I set down my new weapons and carefully drag Collette’s body from the river. I hear him gasp.

“Stop, please,” he begs quietly. I pretend not to hear him and I, struggling not to vomit at the smell of blood, arrange her so that she seems to be sleeping. I wash my hands in the lake, collect my things, and walk away.

  
I walk until I hear the sound of the hovercraft that collects the bodies. I freeze, I’m walking slowly, I should have heard Ash follow me.

I suddenly remember the interviews from before the games.  _“I’m fighting for my sister,” Ash had said._ I turn and look back the way I came, I can just make out the lake...and Ash still hanging onto his sister’s body.

For the second time today, I do something stupid for someone I don’t know - I run back the way I came.  
  


* * *

 

**Ash – The Arena**

I walk up to Coley's body once Jo walks into the surrounding brush. Tears start streaming down my face again, against my will. I hold her head in my lap. Her eyes are already closed so I stroke her eyelids. I start shivering from sitting on the wet bank, so I push off the ground and picking up Coley’s body with me, cradling her like a baby. I never really realized how small she was till now, curled up in my arms. She had gained some muscle during training, but that seems all irrelevant as she is curled in my arms. I move into the tall grass and start making a bed for Coley. 

As I am patting down the grass for her to lie on, I hear it. The hovercraft. I grab and hug Coley’s body, refusing to let go.

There is some screaming and someone is pulling at my arms, trying to get them from around Coley. I am screaming, refusing to let go. The claw starts descending towards us and I am all ready to let it take me with it, home with Coley.

There is a hard slap across my face and I am so shocked my grip slackens, and then I am tackled to the side of the claw just at it closes over Coley’s body and lifts.

 

I push whoever tackled me off and run to the claw, but it is too high for me to grab on. I slump to the ground, screaming and crying for my poor sister.

She was so innocent. She didn’t deserve to die. I should’ve died for her. I am so mad at myself I look around for my knife or club or sword. Anything so I can be with her. 

I reach back and pull out my knife and again I am tackled to the ground. I struggle but the person is in a position where I can’t move.

 

I fight for a little more before my will just gives out. The person climbs off of me because I stop struggling and I wipe my face clear of the wetness. I sit up and look over to see Jo looking at me.

I look down at my hands, ashamed of myself for losing control. I hear rustling and look up to see Jo walking away from me and into the forest, not looking back at me.

I sit there for a little longer, composing myself and swearing that no more tears will leave my eyes. There is no way I can win these games now, and even if I did, there would be nothing for me. I would still have my family, but the knowledge that I couldn’t save Coley would never leave me. Derek and Macie would forget us – they are still young enough to forget. Hopefully, Leo would, too. There's nothing I can do to stop Jaxx from remembering and Mom and Dad will always remember but pretend like they forgot because of the young ones. Maybe they’ll even have another kid or two.

For a moment, I consider just lying there, on the riverbank, until its over. Then I remember. Odair. Finnick. Jo. Coley. Me. Jo and Finnick are just like Coley and me. And worse – Finnick has to watch it all happen to his little sister. And he can’t just lock himself away. He is a mentor and has to watch these games year after year. How would he be if he lost his sister?

I stand up, grab my things, and enter the woods.

If I’m still in these Games, I can make myself useful.

I will make sure that I can do everything in my power to help Jo get home to Finnick.


	8. The Watchers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alliances twist and change as the clock ticks in the Arena.

**Ash – (Still) The Arena**

I search for about ten minutes, having to retrace my steps and find the trail that Jo has left. It isn’t easy as it is starting to get darker.

When I finally find her, I follow behind for about a hundred years, debating how I should approach her when she says, “You know, you’re going to have to learn how to walk quieter or you’re going to get us both killed.”

I immediately stop. She stops too and turns around to face me and continues, “So I was thinking of camping on higher ground where we can keep a lookout and be relatively safe.”

I nod, unable to speak as I realize she isn’t going to question me about my sister’s death or dwell on it. I don’t know if that makes happy or sad.

We walk for another five minutes before I see a perfect tree. She walked right by it, but I leap up to the shortest branch and pull myself up. “This is a good tree, let's just spend the night up there,” I say. She stops in her tracks.

 

* * *

 

**Josie – In a Tree in the Arena**

“I can’t climb this tree,” the words are out of my mouth before I can think about them. My face gets really red, I hope that it’s too dark for Ash to tell.

Ash pokes his head down and stares, “You can’t climb trees?” he says in disbelief.

He immediately jumps down and starts giving me instructions. “Jump up,” he says with his hands up, “Grab onto the lowest branch and --”

“I can climb trees!” I snap at him. “Just…just not _these_ trees.”

Ash stares, even more confused than before. “A tree is a tree. What…how can it be different?”

“My trees don’t have branches.” I realize how stupid that sounds when we’re surrounded by all these other trees – with branches.

“What?!”

“Palm trees.”

“What the hell is a palm tree?”

“A tree without branches,” I say, exasperated. We’re really not getting anywhere. Literally, I’m still on the ground.

“How…how do you climb a tree without branches?” Ash demands.

“You know,” I say, making a circle with my arms, “you just kind of hug the trunk and shimmy up.”

He blinks, “Shimmy?”

“What the hell! Just get back up there and pull me up before something eats us!”

“Pulling up isn’t as easy as pushing you,” he says.

“What?” I demand.

He sighs. Ash points to the lowest branch and says, demands really, “Just grab onto that with your hands.”

I glare – he sounds remarkably like Finnick – and do what he says.

To my surprise, he grabs my hips and pushes me over the branch so now I’m on my stomach hugging the skinny branch that seems way too weak to hold my weight.

 

“Ash,” I say, trying to sound calm and not move, “This won’t break, right?”

I look down, don’t see him, and nearly fall out of the tree when he speaks from my elbow. “Don’t worry, this is much sturdier than the tree I was in earlier.”

I nod, taking a deep breath and cautiously let go with one hand. I’m too short to reach the next branch. I look at Ash. He’s watching me with a strange expression.

“Can you please help me to my feet?” I say, trying not to sound pitiful.

He grabs my hand, and helps me up, instructing me, “Put one hand on the tree trunk.” I do. And once I’m on my feet, I easily climb the tree using the branches like a ladder. No different than rock-climbing. That I can do.

 

Once we’re both satisfied with the height from the ground, we settle down. Ash winces.

“Are you hurt?” I ask.

“I’m fine,” he replies.

“Your foot and your hand are covered in blood,” I point out.

“It’s my ankle,” he says, “And my hand.”

I roll my eyes. _Boys._ “Check your backpack,” I suggest, “Sometimes they have meds and bandages and stuff like that. Finnick did his year.”

Ash does what I suggested and finds nothing edible, but plenty of cloth, some antibacterial-medicinal-spray-thing and some fancy looking pliers that seem absolutely worthless to me. Ash uses the spray and winces, and begins to wrap his foot first.

 

We’re quiet for a bit and then Ash asks, “So, how many years older than you is Finnick?”

I’m surprised, but answer anyway. “Five. Finnick’s twenty and I’m almost sixteen.”

He quietly whispers, “Coley turned sixteen last month.”

“I’m…” _wait a minute._ “She was sixteen!” I exclaim without thinking.

Ash looks at me blankly.

“I mean,” I backtrack quickly. The last thing I want is to die by getting pushed from a tree. “She was so small…I thought she was thirteen.”

“Yeah,” he says, “She had a condition where she could never have much weight. It’s common when they’re born with a twin.”

I feel awful. “She has a twin?”

“She did. Crystal was born dead.”

 I can’t believe I’m having this conversation.

“How old are you?” I ask after a silent second.

“Eighteen,” Ash says. He adds in as an afterthought, “My birthday is next month.”

“You were almost out of the Reaping this year,” I whisper.

“Almost.”

 

“Hey,” he asks after another second, he seems as if he’s trying to think about something other than his sister, “How did you learn to tackle like that?”

I crack a smile. “Finnick.”

He stares, waiting for me to elaborate. My smile fades, but it can’t hurt to explain. “After he came back from the Games,” I begin, “Finn wanted me to learn self-defense. So he taught me a few things.”

“Was he worried that you’d get Reaped?”

“Always,” I say. “But this year…” I stop.

Ash looks at me with those dark eyes, once again waiting for me to finish. But I can’t mention Snow, or the rigged Reaping, or the dark nights and a woman who won the Games and my brother’s love. I can’t mention how once you win, you’re trapped forever. Not to this stranger, not on camera.

“This year wishing wasn’t enough,” I finish a bit lamely. Ash nods. “Also,” I find myself saying, “I’m the one who would hold him down.”

_I can’t believe I just said that._

 “What?” Ash asks.

I whisper, “The winner always has nightmares.”

“What about your parents?” Ash asks.

I look at him, “Didn’t you watch the Games the year Finnick won?”

“Yeah, but I have five…four little siblings so if it was just family filler stuff…”

“They died during his Games.” My voice is hard. I can’t help it.

 Ash looks sorry for bringing it up.

I sigh, and explain what I have heard Cesar Flickerman dramatize a thousand times before; “We can’t just stop fishing during the Games – fish have seasons and migration patterns.  So during the Games, we take whatever time we can to do our job. We have a quota to fill or…it just isn’t good to not fill the quota.”

Ash nods; “We have something similar down in the mines.”

I continue. “Mom and Dad had spent so much time keeping tabs on Finnick that we were dangerously close to missing the season. One night, when we knew Finnick wouldn’t be doing much, they went out by themselves in our boat. A storm blew up and…and…they found the bodies the next day…”

My voice breaks and I stop for a second. It still hurts, after all this time. I nearly lost everything that year. My brother, my parents, even our boat which was a better home than what we had on land.

“I’m sorry,” Ash says quietly.

I look at him, “I just thank God that I have my brother.”

Ash opens his mouth to speak, but then the whistling starts.

 

* * *

 

 **Finnick – The Game-Room**  
  
“It seems like my boy is keeping his word,” Haymitch mutters to me.

I nod, mutely staring at the screen that shows Josie and Ash sitting in a tree talking about – of all things – our parents. Coming home that year was harder than the Games; the only thing left was Josie, they’d taken our house to pay for expenses or something. Poor Josie had been nine.

Haymitch has come over to watch Josie’s TV with me. Ash is with her, so the District 12 male TV shows the same image from a different angle. Collette’s screen is dark.

Between Josie and Ash, two careers died in the beginning. It’s an unheard of phenomena. The career pack is now made from the boy from One, the girl from Two, both from Seven, and the boy from Ten.

The sound of a shrill whistle cuts off Josie’s words and makes me focus my attention on Seaweed’s screen.

“What the hell are you doing?” Hisses his companion. Spark, the young boy from Three, has somehow become allies with Seaweed to the amazement of Beetee and me.

Seaweed ignores him and whistles nine times: short, short, short, long, long, long, short, short, short. SOS in Morse code - the only people who still use it are the sailors in Four.

“Shut up!” Spark hisses, grabbing Seaweed’s arm and shaking it roughly. “You want to get us killed?!”

“Listen, Sparky,” Seaweed snaps at him. “I saved your sorry ass because I saw your little trick with the lights during training. But if you’re going to question everything I do, I’ll just stab you now and get it over with. I told you - I’m looking for the girl from my district.”

Spark begins to argue but Josie’s voice from the other TV catches my attention. “...a symbol from my district,” Josie has finished telling Ash.

“So it’s the boy from Four?” Ash asks.

“Maybe,” Josie looks around. “But I don’t know where it came from.”

“Don’t whistle back,” Ash warns. “Two careers are still out there.”

“I’m not that stupid,” she says.

“Your other ally is,” Ash mutters. She doesn’t argue.

The whistle comes again, persistent: SOS.

“Out of all the things to choose,” Josie mutters.

Ash orients himself and points in the direction of the noise, “That way.”

“Agreed,” Josie says. They hop out of the tree – Ash helps Josie – and Ash leads the way.

“My kids heard them,” Johanna announces from my left. I turn to see her examining her screen, her headphones in hand. Her two are arguing with one of the other careers. My stomach flips. Josie and her allies are setting their own trap.

The whistle is repeated and I suddenly hear; “Seaweed?”

“Jo!” Seaweed looks relieved to see her, Spark looks upset. “What took you so long?”

“Ran into an ally,” she replies. “Ash, Seaweed. Seaweed, Ash.”

The two boys size each other up and Ash frowns at Spark. “Who are you?”

“Spark Hollorain from District Three,” Spark snaps. He looks at Seaweed, “I don’t recall anything about Twelve.”

“I don’t recall anything about you,” Josie tells him.

“You get someone, I get someone too,” Seaweed snaps at her.

“Not really,” she counters, eyes flashing. “I told you about Ash and....before training...”

“But you decided without me,” Seaweed says darkly.

“Get over yourself,” Josie mutters. 

“What?”

“Will Spark be helpful?”

“That’s not what you said.”

“I’m right here!!”

“And he will be,” Seaweed says, “You know the day the lights flickered...”

“I’m not your slave!” Spark snaps at him.

“Shut up, Sparky.”

Spark’s eyes flash angrily, and I wince, hating my god-like vantage point from the TV. This meeting is not going well. And the careers will find them soon if they don’t move...

“Fine then,” Spark says coolly. “I’ll just get my bag and go.”

He reaches for the backpack on Seaweed’s back and Seaweed moves away. “I saved your life, remember?” Seaweed hisses. “You owe me. If you want to leave, fine. But I’m keeping the backpack.”

“I’ll starve!”

“Not my problem.” Spark’s hands have been fiddling with something the entire time - twisting a golden wire around and around something. As Seaweed continues, “You’d probably turn out to be a waste of time anyway...”

Spark jabs whatever it is at Seaweed. Seaweed shouts in pain and surprise as he goes flying backward. Josie and Ash are on Spark like a pair of wolves an instant later. Josie has the boy pinned to the ground, one knee on his chest, a knife to his throat and Ash wrestles the mess of wires out of his hand. She’s going for the kill. My sweet baby sister already has the hard eyes of a killer. I want to cry.  _This isn’t right._

“No, please,” Spark begs. “Please! I can be useful! Imagine what I could do with a bigger power source! Please, please, I don’t want to die...” His voice ends in a whimper and Josie stares at him.

“Go ahead and kill the damn brat,” Seaweed snaps, nursing his burnt hand.

Ash is examining the gadget, “If he’s dead this is useless,” he adds. “Although it’s useless to everyone else too.”

Josie is silent.

“Please,” Spark whispers.

I hold my breath. If she kills him, she’ll be one step closer to winning. But if she kills him...like this, in cold-blood, I’ve lost my Josie forever. She’ll still be my little sister, but she won’t be the same...  
  
Josie pulls the knife away and I hear sighs of disappointment from some of the other mentors. But I, selfishly, am relieved.

 _God, Finnick, what is wrong with you? Don’t you want her to win? No one decent wins the games - if she wins, she’ll have to be hard...like you. You; who have already planned to sleep with three different women tonight in order to get her sponsors and keep Annie safe. How far am I willing to go?_ I wonder. I feel disgusted with myself as the answer comes to mind: _anything._

I hate this place. I hate what it makes me.  


On TV, Josie is standing. Glaring at Spark, she says, “You’re with us until you pull your little trick and then you leave. Got it? If it’s successful there will be fewer people out there. You keep the backpack-"

  
Seaweed and Ash makes sounds of protests but Josie ignores them and finishes, “But we keep your gadget. Deal?”

Seaweed looks impressed.

“I’ll die without it,” Spark whispers.

“We’re not setting ourselves up to get electrocuted,” Ash snaps at him.

“And if you don’t agree, I’ll kill you now,” Seaweed adds.

Spark doesn’t have a choice. He nods. “Okay.” The boy stands and brushes himself off.

 

I hear Beetee sigh in relief behind me. “Your two play a hard bargain,” he tells me quietly. “But Spark did burn Seaweed when he should have been trying to get on his good side.” 

“I’m sorry,” I say softly, so only he can hear.

“Ah, well,” Beetee says. He takes off his glasses and polishes them. “Your sister will be a better victor.” I nod mutely as Beetee walks away.

I hear Ash say, “We should get a move on” and then the image on Johanna’s screen shows her girl advancing on my sister.

The careers have found them.


	9. Night Raids

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As is common in the Games, those tributes in the Career pack are merciless. But their prey is not as helpless as they think.

**Ash – Stupid Seaweed**

 

I act purely out of instinct.

The second the charge comes, I shove Jo to the ground, my sword meeting the sword of the Career. I hold strong then kick Two in the stomach so she stumbles back away from me. 

“How many Careers are there?!” I hear Seaweed say behind me. 

“Five, probably circling us. Damn you Seaweed!” I growl scanning the surrounding woods for the others. When I spot one of the boys, I point at him. "Watch him!" 

I hear a scream that sounds like Spark’s, then a zap and another scream but I don’t look because the girl in front of me charges. 

I swing my sword up to meet hers. She spins and swings her sword around going for my head. I duck and slash at her legs, but she jumps away so she only gets a cut running even with her calf.

She stumbles back glaring daggers. I hear Jo shout, “Your left, Ash!”

I pivot, bringing my sword up, meeting the outstretched spear of the boy from One. He uses the momentum to swing the spear around, getting a better grip on it then slashing upward. He catches my inner thigh on my left leg, I flinch instinctively but am so pumped full of adrenaline that I barely notice the pain.

For the next couple minutes, we dance back and forth till I realize – we’re not gonna get anywhere. We are too close for him to throw his spear and I’m too far away to cut him with my sword.

I take a step back as I realize this, reassessing my options. He narrows his eyes at me but relaxes his stance ever so slightly, and that is when I charge. I pull my knife and sink it into his eye before he can raise his spear to defend himself. He goes down screaming, and I am about to take a breath when I am pushed to the ground, forcing air out of my lungs.

 

One is still screaming but I focus on the girl from Seven who is clawing at my back. I hear a scream that sounds like Jo. I immediately overpower Seven, twisting around so she is now on the bottom. She whimpers under me, looking terrified. I slit her throat quickly; trying not to think about the poor girl’s family, then push myself up and look over to see Jo being forced back by the girl from Two.

I rush at Two and push her so hard from behind that she stumbles head-first into a bush and gets stuck there. “Run!” I yell at Jo, and we flee the battle.

Seaweed, who has been fighting with another Career, finally manages to drive his weapon into his quarry. He takes off into the woods behind us.

Four cannons sound, right in a row. My heart sinks as I realize that Spark is probably dead too.

 

* * *

  **Josie – Somewhere lost in the Arena**

 

“What the hell happened to Spark?” the words are out of my mouth as soon as we pause to breathe.

I’m clutching a stitch at my side, and Seaweed is bent double gasping. Ash is leaning against a tree, blood running down his left leg – which happens to be the leg with the wounded ankle. Thank God for Capitol medicine or he’d have been left far behind us long ago…not that I could leave him after he saved my life. I shudder at the memory of Two’s cold eyes as she moved me into the corner. I’d already thrown my spears at her, but I was no good at hand-to-hand fighting. She’d been too quick for me. If I want to survive these Games, I’d need to be clever. Or get a harpoon.

I snort to myself. _Yeah, right. Not in this arena._

“Spark got himself killed,” Seaweed says dismissively. “But he took out one of the careers with his little electro-thing so two wins for us. He was a whiner anyway.”

Ash shoots him a look. I understand. “He was an ally,” I tell Seaweed pointedly.

“Only for like two minutes,” the older boy snorts. "We were going to use him either way.”

Ash is staring at Seaweed as if he can’t believe his ears. I change the subject. “Eight tributes died in the original bloodbath, how many died just now?”

“The girl from Seven, I think, Spark and the person he was fighting, and the one Seaweed took care of,” Ash lists off.

“That’s twelve total,” Seaweed says. He sounds surprised. “That’s half dead in the first day and night.” The three of us look at each other grimly, and then we all jump as we hear another cannon.

“Make that thirteen,” I whisper.

“Let’s get out of here,” says Seaweed.

“No,” Ash says. Seaweed glares at him, and I want to kick Seaweed _. Really now, can we just pretend to get along?_ Ash looks steadily back at him and finishes, “It’s only getting darker. We should climb a tree and keep a lookout until morning. They could sneak up on us in the dark and if we’re in a tree, we have a better chance of spotting us. The boy I was fighting only has one eye now. So we’ll have the advantage and coverage of the trees if they come after us. Which I doubt.”

“And I’m exhausted,” I add. _And Ash will collapse soon on that leg,_ I finish silently in my head.

Seaweed sighs; “Fine.”

 

Turns out Seaweed is even worse at climbing trees than I am. But we all get into a nice sturdy tree – Ash calls it a spruce pine, whatever that means – and soon Seaweed is asleep. I’m on watch and Ash is cleaning his leg. I’m watching him silently; I’m not expecting any sort of conversation, when: “You call him Finn?”

“What?” I whisper back to Ash, surprised to hear his voice.

“Your brother, you call him Finn – is that just you or everyone who knows him?”

“Just me,” I reply. “Not even An…anyone who likes him calls him that.”

Ash nods, just a shadow moving in the darkness. The Arena is lit as if by the light of a crescent moon and we can barely make out one another between the branches of the tree.

“Do you have a nickname?” I ask him.

“No, but Collette did,” he replies softly. “She was Coley, but only to me. I don’t know why.”

“I’m Josie,” I say.

Ash stares – I see the dim light reflecting off his dark eyes.

“I mean,” I amend. “Finnick calls me Josie. Only my family is allowed to call me that.”

“What about Jo?” he asks.

“That’s what my friends call me,” I answer.

“Oh…” Ash is silent for a second before saying, “But you told us to call you Jo from the beginning.”

 _I did, didn’t I? Why?_ “I knew that you’d be a good ally,” I tell him, “And I need all the friends I can get in here.”

Our conversation is cut short by the sudden blare of trumpets and the sky is suddenly lit with the nightly show of the dead. Ash looks away as they get to District Eleven so he won’t have to see his little sister – his Coley – lit up in the sky.

 

* * *

 

 **Finnick – The Hotel in the Capitol; almost five hours later**  
  
I should have scars on my arms and legs from the Games. I was hacked at with swords and shot at by arrows but I won. The surgeons got rid of it all.

Too bad that they couldn’t get rid of the scars on my soul.

Too bad that they won’t get rid of the scars I’m getting now.

She has long nails, filed almost to a point because it’s “fashionable.” She claws my back as I lay on her; she’s shouting my name in ecstasy. She’ll treasure this moment or she’ll soon forget it. I’ll remember, and hate myself for it.  
  
She goes to pay me and discovers that her husband has the cash. She doesn’t want to tell him and I feel angry.

_How dare she do this to me, take another chip of my soul for the Capitol, and not give me something in return? Something I need - money that could save my sister’s life._

She offers me valuable information instead. And this is how I learn about secrets. Turns out her husband helped put a certain president into power...some of the politics are beyond me, but with enough people, enough secrets, Snow will never maneuver me into a corner again.

Never again will I be helpless and watch people I love suffer.  
  
But right now, this thought is little comfort. I’m exhausted - I haven’t slept more than two hours at a time since we arrived at the Capitol. And I haven’t eaten today.   
  
She finishes with me, like the other two before her tonight. I force myself to walk back to my rooms. Seaweed and Josie’s empty rooms are a reminder of what is happening.

I turn on the TV:  she - and her allies - are still alive.

It feels as if I can breathe a bit easier.  


I drag myself to the shower and turn on the water. I mean to take a quick shower and then go to the Game Room. Instead, my legs give out and I fall to my knees, the water relentlessly pounding on my neck. Tears stream down my face.

 _How can I do this to Annie?_ How can I do this when Josie may die?  
How can I want Josie to win, when this is what might await her?

That’s the most painful thought. Annie escaped it due to her diagnosis as a crazy woman. But Josie...I don’t want the Games to break her. But, would the Capitol breaking her be worse? It’s broken me...almost. Annie and Josie are why I fight. But like this, alone in rooms so large that they swallow me whole, I don’t feel like fighting.

I feel like I’m drowning in the Capitol.

I don’t know for how long I stay there, the water streaming down my aching back. Steam filling the room. I can almost pretend I’m home… _no, that’s a lie._

I hear the distant sounds of a cannon from the TV that is on in the living room, and I scramble to my feet. I almost slip and fall into the glass doors of the shower, but I hold onto the ridiculous marble designs on the wall and manage to stay standing. I run into the main room wearing nothing, and hear Cesar Flickerman say, “…that little girl from Eleven didn’t have much of a chance, the mutts ran her down quickly. Almost better for her to die now than be chased by those careers…”

The adrenaline leaves my body and I collapse on the couch. I’m still wet, I’m vaguely aware that the shower is still running in the background. I close my eyes for only a second…

 

And wake up to Sky’s ridiculous neon-blue hair and him telling me that it’s almost noon.

I shoot to my feet, and almost run out the door, before I remember my lack of clothing. Sky looks embarrassed, and is stammering something that vaguely sounds like an apology.

“It’s fine! It’s fine!” I shout to him, running to my room. I stop in my tracks, my heart almost stopping. “Sky! Is Josie…?”

“She’s fine, she’s fine!” Sky assures me, “So are her two allies. Only one death this morning, it was the boy from…Nine? I think it was Nine. Got wounded by mutts last night, died this morning.”

 I really don’t care. And then I feel terrible for not caring. But Josie is alive.

 Sky gives me a strange look, “Finnick, what happened to your back?”

I smiled at him carelessly, putting on the mask the Capitol loves automatically, “Haven’t you ever felt so much passion for a beautiful woman that the pain becomes real?”

He looks confused, I feel bad, and I clap him on the back. “I had a late night and hurt myself a bit. I’m okay.”

Sky doesn’t look convinced but nods. “Would you like me to put the medicine on it? It will go away in a few minutes.”

I shrug. “Might as well. Just let me put on pants.”

Sky looks embarrassed again.

 

I change and come out holding my shirt. Black shirt, to hide the blood that I know will leak out as I move around the Game Room.

Sky applies the medicine and we leave the rooms together, only stopping to grab several sandwiches. Soon, I’m again in the Game Room.

Haymitch approaches me as I arrive, he looks much more sober than I expected.

“You should watch,” he tells me.

I do.

 


	10. Day Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The second day dawns bright and clear in the Arena.

 

**Ash – Still in the Tree**

 

I wake up to the sounds of groaning.

“I’m so hungry!” I hear Seaweed complain.

“You were on watch, why didn’t you catch something,” Jo hisses at him.

“Well, I was too busy keeping watch!” Seaweed says, fire burning in his eyes.

“It doesn’t take that much concentration to watch nothing!” Jo snaps, her face is pale in the strange light of the Arena. 

Through this, I had been making my way down the tree. I hit the ground then look up and say quietly, “Instead of arguing, why don’t we do something about it. Come on.” They both look down at me. Jo starts making her way down. Jo hits the ground next to me a minute later and we start walking in opposite directions.

“Hey!” Seaweed shouts, still in the tree. “What about me!?”

“I’m hungry and I’m not going to waste five minutes waiting for you to drag your ass out of that tree!” Jo says under her breathe. 

“We can’t spend all day waiting for you to climb out of a tree, we’re getting a head start,” I say to him, trying not to laugh at Jo.

She glances at me and gives me a smile, then we continue our search for game trails or bushes. When we hear a thud and a poorly suppressed groan, Jo states, “Finally! Took you long enough. Let’s go find the river or head back to the lake. It will be easier than catching an animal in this forest.”

 I catch up to Jo just as Seaweed does and we follow her. For better or worse, I trust Jo to get us back to that river. 

As we're walking, I spot a spot of color in a bush. I change my direction to get a better look, and recognizing the berries from home, I pluck one off the bush and pop it in my mouth. Jo glances back at me and her eyes open wide in surprise to see me snacking on them right off the bush.

“Wait!” Jo screams, taking off towards me.

I swallow and ask, “What?”

She slows down to a walk and says, concern lacing her voice, “That could’ve been poisonous.”

“Well, I guess we’ll know soon, huh?” Seaweed says nonchalantly.

“That would be cruel if they made these sweet berries from home poisonous,” I speculate. I reach down, plucking more from the branch. I'm thirsty, too, and the juice is helping some. “If they are, I'm already dead, right? So what's the harm of eating a few more?" I begin picking them in earnest, dropping as many into the pockets of my backpack as I put into my mouth. Jo looks flabbergasted by my attitude. I think Seaweed is trying not to laugh. 

Jo and Seaweed don’t move until I’m done. But as soon as the bush is free of berries, Jo starts walking again. It occurs to me that Jo is actually worried, and I'm surprised by how touched I am. 

 

After a few moments, I finally hear the sound of the rushing of water. Seaweed whispers, “Water,” then takes off towards it.

“Don’t drink anything without purifying it!” Jo shouts as she takes off after him.

They both plunge into the water, diving under. I stop a few feet short and sit, staring at the water for a second.

I take in our surroundings as I listen to them splashing. It's like watching two ducklings returning to a pond, they absolutely  _love_ it, and I find myself wondering if it's cruel to take the people of District Four away from the beach.

“Ash!” I hear Jo say just over the noise of the river, “There’s water purifying packets in my backpack. Fill a bottle with water and pour in everything in the packet.”

I get up and walk to her backpack and open it. I follow her instructions and sit back down. After about a minute, Jo comes out of the water. She plops down next to me and sighs. “Man, I missed the water,” she says a little breathily.

“Uh, you were in a river just yesterday…” I trail off with a laugh. The image of Coley slipping away into the water, a spear in her chest, flashes in my mind and my smile drops. 

Jo, not looking at my face, chuckles, and replies, “Well yeah, but when you live in District Four you get used to seeing the water all the time. The beach is literally in our backyard and I don’t think I’ve gone a single day in my life without going for a swim at least once.”

I look down at her and manage a half-smile, at least one of us is happy.

She sits up and says, “Well I think we gave this water enough time to sit!” She grabs the bottle and chugs down the entire thing without taking a breath. I gape at her.

She looks over at me and laughs a little. “Watch it! You don’t want to catch flies!” She takes off to the water to fill her bottle again.

We all take turns waiting for our turn to drink water.

Once Jo and Seaweed are relatively dried off, I hear Seaweed’s stomach growl. He grins and stands up. “Well, I don’t know about you but I think I’m going to catch myself a fish dinner,” he says and strides to the water with his sword.

I look over at Jo to see her grinning kind of creepily at me. “Have you ever fished, Ash?”

“Nope,” I answer.

“Come on, it’s not as hard as climbing trees,” she says standing up.

 

Apparently, it is, because I would take to climbing a tree over fishing any day.

* * *

 

**Josie – The Arena, where else would we be?**

 

I’m not sure what I heard first – the cannon or the howling of wolves.

“What the hell is that?” Seaweed says, jumping to his feet, the remains of the fish we were eating in his hand.

“The fire,” Ash says, moving to scuff sand on our small fire. I make for the river, water bottle in hand but he stops me with a breathless, “No. Use sand, water produces smoke.” I nod and help him put out our cooking fire while Seaweed keeps a nervous look-out.

 “Those damn mutts have killed at least three people,” he hisses at us, eyes darting from tree to tree.

“They could have died by careers,” I say.

“Howling,” Seaweed says sourly. He doesn’t elaborate. He’s gotten nastier and edgier the more time we spend in the Arena. I’m tempted to ditch him, but a deals a deal and I’ve known Seaweed my whole life. Granted, he’s never, _never_ acted like this before.

“How do you know it’s mutts?” asks Ash.

Seaweed glares at him; “Howling.”

Ash spares a glance at him and then continues gathering our things. I roll my eyes when neither of the boys is looking. I’m fed up with whatever this is – macho-ism or something. The howling gets louder and we run away from the river.

 

“Hey,” I ask after a few minutes of simply putting as much distance between us and the howls as possible. “Are we going anywhere specific? Or are we just wandering around?”

“I was following you,” Ash says.

“I was following Twelve,” Seaweed says.

“I was just running,” I protest.

“So keep running,” Seaweed mutters.

“What?” I demand.

“Nothing?”

“If you can’t dish it out…” I begin.

“Let’s head for the mountain,” Ash interrupts.

“Mountain?” Seaweed makes a face.

“Why?” I ask.

Ash shrugs, a bit uncomfortable with the question, “Up high, we can see more things…maybe more food…and I don’t think anyone is up there. Think about it; wouldn’t the careers stay near the Cornucopia?”

I shrug, looking at Seaweed. “Good enough for me,” I say.

Seaweed nods.

 

Turns out to be a very stupid idea.

 

* * *

 

**Finnick – Game Room**

 

I groan. “So you’re just going to climb the mountain all day,” I mutter to myself.

“What the hell are they doing?” Haymitch complains.

I shrug. “Beats me.”

Haymitch takes a swig of whatever is in his bottle and mutters something about people from Four lacking intelligence. I ignore him. I take out a small notebook from my pocket and start flipping through the pages.

 

“What’s that?” I jump and glare at the person who had snuck up on me.

“Mind your own business, Johanna." 

Undaunted, she grabs my hand and pulls it down so that she can get a good look. She whistles in appreciation; “That’s a lot of money.”

“Not enough,” I reply, pulling my arm free.

She snorts. “Not enough for what? Getting something illegal in?” I’m silent and her eyes widen, she lowers her voice. “What are you trying to get Josephine?”

I look around. Almost everyone else is watching the TVs or talking. Haymitch is drinking. A few people – their tributes already dead – are missing. “I want to get her a harpoon,” I whisper to Johanna.

Johanna nods, thoughtful. “Not a normal weapon…but I think you have enough.”

_With my three latest night escapades I almost do but…_ “I can pay for the harpoon itself – the mechanism used to shoot – but I need money for the shafts…”

“How much?” asks Haymitch suddenly. Both Johanna and I jump a bit – we hadn’t realized he was listening.

The figure is barely out of my mouth before Haymitch hands me a stack of bank-notes. I’m too surprised to do anything but stare at the papers in my hand.

Johanna swears under her breath.

Haymitch looks from her to me, slightly offended. “I know how to root for the winner.” He walks away, calling for more liquor.

 “Okay, Odair,” Johanna says, turning back to me. “Now what?”

I sigh. “Now,” I say, pocketing the money, “I get money to bribe the game makers.”

 

I’m gone all day – Johanna for some unknown reason has decided to help me. I’ve just shaken hands with the last Capitol aristocracy, promising her my time tonight, when Johanna comes running to find me.

“Jo and her allies,” she gasps out. I start running and Johanna shouts after me. “They’re up the mountain but Eight and Ten ganged up with the careers. It’s another ambush!”

 

* * *

 

**Josie – Up the Damn Mountain**

 

Four of them against three of us. It’s almost fair, but just unfair enough to put us at a disadvantage. I’m fighting the boy from One; His sword and the spear in my hands clashing noisily. I know that he’s stronger, and we’re too close for me to simply throw my weapon. Ash is fighting two kids; all of them using swords. Seaweed and another boy are wrestling on the ground, weapons forgotten.

 One is stronger than me, and my arms are getting tired. Every stroke comes closer to my body.

 

Then, an explosion, like if a mountain had collapsed on itself…or exploded. I look up and see the red-fire and black-ash filling the air. I’ve read this in a book; the mountain has blown its top, a volcano has exploded.  

I let out a yell, and my fear lends me extra strength. I push back hard enough for One to step back and trip on a rock. Then, I turn and run. “Volcano!” I think I’m shouting. “Run!”

I hear Seaweed swear, and Ash is suddenly behind me. Everyone, hunted and hunters, running together from the fire.

 

I hear the roar of the waterfall and I run towards it. _Why the hell did we climb this mountain in the first place!?_ The time it would take us to get down is the time it would take us to burn alive – the fire is approaching. Not quite lava, not quite fire, something strange that the game-makers designed to torture us.

One, Two and their two followers veer off to run down the steep slope but I run straight.

“Where the hell are we going?” Seaweed shouts at me. I save my breath and run straight towards the roar of the waterfall.

“Jo?” Ash gasps. “Jo, this is insane!”

“Legs together and arms crossed,” I shout at him _._ Maybe it’s insane, but the careers have trapped themselves in the valley full of fire. I hate fire with a passion – I’m not falling down the mountain to die. _If I die like this, if I can’t die fighting, I’m dying in the water._ Seaweed and I speed up as we approach the waterfall, Ash falls behind but doesn’t leave.

 

I run until I reach the edge, and then I jump.  _Falling is the closest I’ll ever get to flying,_ I think. I fall through the air that is now full of cinders and ash and the sweet spray from the waterfall. I fly, my arms and legs out to slow my fall. The adrenaline doesn’t leave much room for thought. 

Automatically, I go into a dive as the water draws near and I slip into the water with barely a ripple.  _Thank God, It’s deep enough._ Yet my feet scrap the bottom as I spin in the current that almost immediately slackens. This waterfall ends in a deep, calm pool. I come up and notice that the volcano’s fire is retreating, the sky is dark with ash.

_Ash._

  
I look for him. He surfaces several feet away, spluttering and gasping. He flounders over to a rock and latches on, his shoulders shaking as he coughs up water. Seaweed, much more gracefully, appears next to me. We both tread water as we watch the fire in the sky recede - some game maker somewhere has turned off the switch.

Three cannons sound. There are only five people left in the arena. I turn to Seaweed with a smile. “We made it!”

He looks at me, and his face looks as if it were made of stone. A chill goes down my spine. “I made it,” he tells me. And then he dives under the water and grabs my ankle, forcing me deep under the water.

First, I’m surprised. Then, I’m angry. 

If I _choose_ to die by water, then it’s okay. Almost appropriate. If someone _else tries to kill me_ in my element, that’s a grave insult.

And if the person trying to drown me is someone who helped me when I was first learning how to swim as a child...how dare he! How dare he!  _Seaweed, we were children together._

But as his hands tighten around my chest, trying to force me to swallow water, all bounds of childhood disappears. I kick him hard in his man-parts and he cringes. I struggle to the surface and take a deep breath before we are once again locked together, wrestling in the water. Neither of us have weapons after our jump off the falls. It’s a battle to see who has more strength, who can hold their breath longer. He’s stronger, but I’m the diver of the two. We’re spinning; I’m wiggling out of his grip and he grabs me again. His hands are around my neck, trying to get a good enough grip to break it. I reach out and poke my sharp nails into his eyes. The world is filled with bubbles as he howls in pain and we surface, still struggling. I can’t get free. I wonder if I’m going to die.

_No, not like this._

Suddenly, Seaweed let’s go. I dive under and swim away, kicking him hard in the stomach to push him back. I surface, coughing and rubbing my swollen neck. I instantly see why he let go; Ash hit him hard around the head. Now the boys are fighting.

It’s clear that Seaweed is the better swimmer, but Ash is stronger from days spent in the mines of District Twelve. Luckily, when I kicked Seaweed the fight moved to shallow water but I don’t know how long Ash can last. I start searching the shore, frantically looking for a weapon.

“Run, Jo!” Ash gasps out. “Run!”

“Shut up and fight!” I shout back.

_A weapon, a big rock, anything!_ But there are only small stones. I pick up a sharp one and prepare to help Ash when a hear something: a metallic beeping noise.

“Finnick,” I breathe. I search the sky desperately and see the parachute drifting down. I wade in the water and get to the package as soon as it’s my height.

The fight’s intensifying behind me. I fumble with the latch on the metal container and throw open the lid.

_Thank God, Finnick. You remembered._

I grab, load, turn and point. Seaweed has Ash underwater, his back towards me.

I fire.  
  
Seaweed jerks as the harpoon goes right through his heart. I yank back on the string _. No different than a fish._ He falls backwards into the water as I calmly unhook the wire and hold my gift in my hands. Ash struggles to the surface and gasps for air. He shakily stands - the water goes up to his knees only, but with Seaweed on top of him, it was enough to drown him.

My instinct is to drop the harpoon, but my neck still hurts from a childhood friend trying to kill me. So instead, I load it again and hold it ready. Not pointing at Ash, but ready to fire if need be.

The cannon sounds.

Ash looks at me through a grim smile, “The two of us and the two careers. You’re going to win.”

“You could still win, too,” I say evenly. My hand tightens on my new weapon.  _Is this a trap?_

Ash shakes his head. “No, I’m not leaving the arena.”

I just stare.

He gazes back steadily. There is no hesitation in his dark eyes. “If the arena was good enough for my best friend to die, then it’s good enough for me.”

“What about your family?” I demand. “You have little siblings, right?”

“They have each other,” he replies. “But you and Finnick only have each other. Your brother can’t watch your back in here, the least I can do is watch it for him.” He smiles sadly. “I like to think that if the roles were reversed, he’d do the same.”

My breath catches and he looks at me without seeing me, seeing his sister.

“You would’ve like Coley. You guys would’ve been friends,” he says simply.

I lower the harpoon. _Oh God, Ash, why did I meet you in the arena? Why did I meet you only to watch you did slowly after your sister died? To watch you decide to die for the capital’s entertainment?_

“Don’t follow me, please,” I say softly. I’m trying not to cry. “Right now, we’re even. Don’t make me have a debt I can never repay.”

He shook his head. “I’m following you until the end.”

“Ash...”

“I won’t hurt you,” he promises simply.

_I know,_ I think. I imagine all those people watching their TVs. I imagine Snow watching us with a cold calculating look. I’m already an Odair, and Ash is from Twelve. I know that we’ve been pegged as troublemakers. _I’m going to win for you, Snow. To show you what happens when you try to hurt us like this. You can’t mess with my brother, you can’t mess with me, you can’t mess with Ash...you can’t mess with any of us. Someday, someday soon, someone’s going to mock you in front of the world._


	11. The End

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nothing can change someone's fate.

**Finnick – The Game Room**

_We’re already in his debt, Josie._

Josie walks through the forest, her three unused harpoons in her backpack – somehow found on the shore after the jump down the waterfall.  I’d just gotten back from delivering the harpoon, cursing the head game maker for everything he’d done when the volcano exploded. For some reason, that set off Johanna; “Of all the dirty…that doesn’t even look like a volcano you twerps! How is that fair!?...”

It’d gone on. I decided that I liked Johanna. I felt like she’d been on my side during Annie’s games too – if we kept this up, Johanna would be among those that I call friends.

 

I’d spat out my own share of profanities as I watched my little sister run through the fire, jump off a waterfall and then get attacked by a childhood friend.  _Damn you, Seaweed._ I’d have to go home and look his parents in the face.  _You would do that, and look me in the eyes every day? Live across from me the rest of your life and remember that you murdered my little sister?_

This game brings out the worst in everyone. Everyone, that is, except that boy from Twelve.

Ash is following Josie like a protective shadow, like I should be. She stares ahead, not speaking. Playing a part for the camera. I can see the tears that aren’t there.

 

“Damn kid,” Haymitch mutters suddenly. He drains the glass he’s holding in one gulp. “Damn heroics. Now I’ve gotta…damn kid, damn your little dead sister, damn the Ga…”

Everyone looks at him. His eyes are a bit red from the alcohol, but even drunk Haymitch remembers the unspoken rule – never insult the Games, never insult Snow, play our part.

“Garden trees and waterfalls and volcanos,” he finishes.

 

* * *

 

**Ash – The Arena, with Less Trees Cause the Volcano Burned Most of Them**

 

After walking for hours and finally falling asleep in a tree, I wake up for seemingly no reason. But I know there is a reason. Once you enter the Arena, there is always a reason. It feels like forever since I rose in the tube to come into this dreaded place, but now I have instincts I never knew I had. 

Then I hear the whisper. I can't make out what they are saying but it is definitely there. 

I place my hand over Jo's mouth to wake her but to make sure she stays quiet. She opens her eyes, not moving a muscle. I'm surprised that she doesn't lash out. I smile a little to myself. She trusts me. My smile drops a second later as I'm reminded where we are. The distraction is nice, even if it is for a second. The whispering continues and we both strain our ears to hear what's being said. 

 As we strain to listen, the sun starts to rise – well, it gets lighter in the Arena. I climb up a couple branches, looking. I see the two careers through a gap in the branches, whispering furiously at each other. I climb back down to Jo and point in their direction, motioning that they're far enough away that we _should_ be able to run away. She nods and starts gathering her things as quietly as possible. 

We climb down and I grip my club thing that somehow has always reappeared at my side and pat my butt to check that my knife is in my back pocket before hopping out of the tree. Jo jumps down after me.

Unfortunately, Jo's landing isn't as graceful and quiet as mine was and the Careers look in our direction. I charge at the guy, now only one-good eye left, and he pulls out an axe from his belt. To my surprise, Jo cuts me off, going for the boy from One instead of the girl from Two like I had tried to get her to do. 

I change a step and go after the girl who wields a sword. I swing my club, trying to knock the sword out if her hand.

She drops the tip so my swing hits nothing and my momentum throws me off even more than Jo charging unexpectedly. Two swings at my arms. She gets a slice in my right triceps and I breathe in a hiss. I swing my club around just in time to meet her sword in the air. She gets a lethal look in her eyes and starts delivering blows with such ferocity that it takes everything in me to keep my club moving to block. 

"Ash! Run! Left!" I hear Jo scream. 

I don't question her and take off to my left. I look over my shoulder to see the boy from One and the girl from Two collide. Then Jo joins me in running. I hear the two Careers start after us, crashing through the forest. 

 

Jo and I pull ahead of them a little more and Jo shouts, "This way!" before changing our direction a little bit to the right. I don't realize why until the ground starts getting softer and I realize we're going back to the stupid beach. 

_Of course_. I think.  _Duh! You idiot! Careers usually can't usually swim!_

We reach the surf and stop, catching our breath as we turn back to where we came, waiting for the careers. After about thirty seconds of a wonderful break, they come running through the woods. They approach quickly and I see the girl, one hand holding the sword, the other raised and ready to throw a knife. Her eyes are on Jo, full of hatred. 

The boy has already raised his arm to throw his axe at me. 

 

My body acts before my mind registers what I do.

I whip my club at the boy. 

I jump in front of Jo as I pull out my knife.

I manage to throw my knife at the other girl. 

Not even a second passes, Jo has not even reacted to my sudden presence in front of her, before I'm hit in the chest with the knife that had been meant for Jo.

I gasp out, "Joley."

Everything goes black.

* * *

 

 

_In a small room in District 12, a scream rents the air. His mother is unable to stop herself from sinking to the floor in hysterics. She had managed to stay silent when they killed her daughter, her sweet, beautiful Collete, the only one of the children that looks like her mother. But as Ash drops to the ground the mother screams. Macie, terrified and unable to understand, begins to cry. Derek and Leo sit there in shock. As does their father._

_Trembling, Jaxx picks up Macie and begins to rock her in his arms._ _"Shhhh," he breathes. He's crying so much he can barely see but still. "Shhh...Macie...it's going to be...I'll protect you. I promise."_

_Leo wonders dimly if Ash heard the cannon sound, somewhere, in the land of the dead._

 

* * *

 

**Josie – Alone**

  
“Ash!” I scream. He collapses quietly with the knife in his chest, like a puppet with the strings cut, and the cannon sounds. 

I shout angrily as I load another harpoon and the girl from Two falls with it sticking from her chest before she can take two steps.

The water is already stained red with blood.

I make a start for Ash - I don’t even know why - when I hear a splash behind me. Before I can turn around, before I can load my weapon, I feel a searing pain in my back.

The boy from One laughs as I collapse…

* * *

  
**Finnick – The Game Room**

  
“No!” I’m on my feet without noticing, across the room without being aware of walking.

She’s collapsed on the shore of the lake. The boy from One threw his axe again. It is this that is sticking from Josie’s back.

“No! Josie! Josie! Damn, damn!” I fall to my knees, shouting. My heart heaving. I’m too shocked for tears. Too angry.

“Finnick! Finnick!” Johanna kneels in front of me and slaps me in the face. “Get a hold of yourself!”

“You don’t understand!” I yell at her. “This is my fault...”

_This is all my fault…_

 

 

I hear Chaff telling someone, “He’s making sure your girl is dead.” I don’t understand and I don’t care.

“Shut up, Finnick!” Johanna is shaking me, “The cannon didn’t sound!”

Then; it booms. I hear it echo in my ears, reverberate in my soul. Johanna looks guilty.

Haymitch suddenly shouts, “Two’s screen went blank! Finnick, snap out of it! Josie’s screen is still on!”

I force myself to look. My eyes are immediately riveted to the two bodies lying prone on the shore, but they’re right. Josie’s screen is on. Ash’s has gone dark and so has Two’s but Josie’s is still on. So she must be alive. But her life-blood is seeping into the ground and staining the river.

One stands in the water and lifts his fist triumphantly.

“I won!” He shouts, the ecstasy and insanity both are instantly apparent. “I did it!”

The camera zooms in on Josie’s face. I’m aware of everything as if time has somehow fractured. Johanna’s hands still on my arms, the cold floor beneath my knees, Haymitch breathing heavily behind me and the smell of alcohol on his breath, and Cesar Flickerman’s annoying voice: “They must be getting a cannon ready. This is unforeseen! The Games ending in only two days! Such a shame...”

Then, Josie’s eyes snap open. I stop breathing.

She carefully, cringing in pain, places both hands flat on the ground and tries to push herself to her knees. She almost shouts in pain. I see her eyes water and she collapses.

One is still crowing in the water.

Josie’s eyes focus on him and burn with anger. She carefully reaches out and loads her last harpoon. He hears the sound and turns.

_Too late._

She fires and he’s hit in the chest.

The mentor from One shouts in dismay but I shout in triumph. One falls backwards, but is still alive. I see him reaching for a knife.

But Josie, screaming in pain, gets to her feet and run to him. She half-collapses on his chest, pinning his hands down with her knees. She holds his face under the water. “Trying to kill me near water,” she gasps. “Bad choice.”

He struggles, his legs thrashing in the water but he soon grows still and doesn’t move.

Josie is shaking from the effort and pain.

“You can make it,” I whisper. Tears on my face. “C’mon Josie, you can make.”

The cannon booms and District One’s last screen goes blank.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present to you the winner of the 71st Hunger Games!”

“Damn right,” she gasps. Then Josie collapses.

I have to hand it to her, by falling on him, her mouth is above water and she is in no danger of drowning. It doesn’t stop my heart from beating erratically until I finally hold my little sister’s hand in mine as they operate. They try to get me to leave.

It was useless. I’m not going anywhere.

 

* * *

  **Josie – The Capitol**  


I probably would’ve gone crazy if Finnick hadn’t been there when I woke up.

As it was, I almost pulled out my IV when I sat up, my back still aching from the memory of the axe.

Song and his assistants were on me like wolves - determined to get rid of the Games. The surgeons had cleaned me already; but they get the little scraps of dirt out from under nails that they filed and painted a soft pink and brushed my hair and curled it and arranged so now it cascades like a waterfall down my back. They painted my eyes so that they look larger and my lips so that they’re red. They dress me like a Queen, a warrior Queen of the water with her harpoon. The only thing no one can change is the scar down my back _. An wound from an axe is a hard thing cure._

Song is finishing me up when I stop him. “Teach me how to do make-up,” I ask quietly.

He looks a bit confused. “I got the feeling that you liked the natural look, Josephine,” he says.

“I do,” I reply. A plan is beginning to form in my mind. Another move to finish the Game on my terms. “But the Capitol likes me painted.”

Song looks a little sad, but asks his assistants to bring him two busts. He spends the next hour doing simple makeup over and over, while I copy him on the busts. My attempts look clumsy and childish next to his. But I’ll get better.

Sky comes in, almost bouncing with excitement. “It’s time for the coronation.”

Song hands me a box filled with makeup. “Blue looks good with your eyes,” he tells me. “Gold and amber are for more serious things, dark colors make you look older. And light tones make you look younger.” He smiles at me. “I’ll see you again, Jo. Congratulations.” 

His is the only congratulations that I like. I hug him before following Sky.

 

The crowds love it: the spectacle of showing me off.

Snow soon puts the crown on my head. “Congratulations,” he tells me. I almost step back in shock. His breath smells faintly of blood. It’s revolting. “Your performance was...surprising.”

“Thank you,” I reply. I meet his gaze steadily. “I’m good at surprises.”

He steps back and regards me with a strange look in his eye. “Would you and your brother accept an invitation to my home tonight before your train leaves?” He asks.

_Like we could refuse._ “It would be an honor,” I reply.

 

Snow’s office is painted white and red. I hate it instantly. I miss the soft greens and blues of home. This fake brightness caused by the harsh fake lights reflecting off the white and the red like blood is too...terrible. And the chairs we’re directed into are stiff and straight-backed, like interrogation chairs. I repress a shiver of disgust. Or fear.

Finnick is silent and stiff besides me. We haven’t had time to talk. He doesn’t know my plan, and I don’t know what he’s thinking.

Snow sits down and motions to an Avox servant. “Can I offer you something? Tea? Coffee?”

I open my mouth to say yes, I don’t want to seem rude, but Finnick cuts me off. “No thank you, we just had some.”

I glance at him, as Snow nods and pours himself a cup. “Finn?” I whisper, so low that Snow can’t hear.

“Don’t eat. Don’t drink,” he mutters from the corner of my mouth. I want to ask why. But this is neither the time nor place.

I reach under the table and squeeze Finnick’s hand in reassurance, a silent agreement. He squeezes back.

“Finnick and Josephine Odair,” Snow begins, “The new Capitol obsession. The brother and sister underdogs that won the game. Poor orphans who only have each other...”

Finnick swallows, I clench my nails into my palms under the table.

Snow looks at us steadily, cunningly, “I don’t like underdogs,” he says. His voice is too matter of fact. “And I especially don’t like underdogs who think they’re better than the alpha...who go back on agreements made for the betterment of the whole.”

He’s looking at Finnick now. Finnick nods, and says, “I apologize. Trust me, I will continue in the...ah...business you have placed me in until you feel I’m no longer needed.”

“And there will be no silly requests for a premature retirement...?”

“No. I mean, I won’t ask for that again.”

My hands are shaking under the table. I’m furious. Finnick strokes my knee, trying to calm me down. I remember him crying on the floor after the phone call, it was only a few months ago but it seems like another life time. I want to shout at Snow. Instead, I smile sweetly when he turns his attention to me.

“And you Josephine,” he begins. “What should I do with you?”

Finnick’s emotions flicker across his face, he loses that care-nothing smile he’s been wearing and I feel him tense.

_My turn._ “I won’t sleep with them,” I tell him. I’m not beating around the bush. He doesn’t know that he has anything on me. “But I’ve done a bit of research and a tease is just as...desired...as the actual thing.”

Finnick tries not to look shocked at my boldness. Snow looks a bit impressed. “So you’ll strip for them?”

“I’ll dance in no more than a swimsuit if you’ll show me the same respect as you show my brother,” I say.

_Translation: they won’t see me naked, but I’ll please them just the same if you’ll leave us alone for it._

Snow nods and extends his hand. We shake on it, then he pulls me closer, I ram my stomach into the table and Finnick jumps to his feet. “And you will not get any funny ideas,” Snow hisses in my ear. “You dance until I say stop."

He lets me go and I get to my feet, backing away. Snow looks at Finnick, “For both of your sakes...and any other people that you want to protect.”

We both nod. He smiles, it reminds me of a devil. “You are dismissed.”

We’re partway out the door when he calls, “Say hello to Annie for me.”

The door falls shut and Finnick shudders. I give him and hug. “Someday...” he whispers into my hair. He doesn’t need to finish.

  
Cesar Flickerman gets me next. “And there she is! The little sister from District Four! Not so little anymore!”

I smile at him and shake his hand warmly as if he is an old friend. After Snow, I can take anyone.

“Cesar! How wonderful to see you!”

“Always a charmer! And you and your brother have much to celebrate, now you’ll be part of life here I hope?”

I laugh, flipping my hair. “Soon. But first I want to feel ocean water under my toes.”

“Speaking of water,” Cesar says, “You were absolutely phenomenal with that harpoon. Your brother worked day and night to get that sent to you. Specialty items cost extra you know.”

I let myself sober up. My heart is pounding. Day and night. A harmless phrase. But it hit too close to home. “I know. I owe Finnick my life.”

“Everyone was rooting for your family not to fall apart.”

“Thank you,” I say brightly. “I was too.”

He laughs. So does the crowd. I'm another little toy for them to admire, something nice and shiny to put on a mantle. Then, one more thing, “Your ally, Ash,”

My heart almost stops. I see Finnick in the wings, out of the corner of me eye, getting ready to step in. “Yes?” I say. 

“He saved your life, several times, why?”

“I reminded him of his little sister.”

Cesar lets the crowd murmur. Before asking, “What would you say to him, if you could speak to him now?”

_So many things, Ash, but most of all._

“Thank you,” I tell Cesar, “I would simply say thank you.”


	12. District 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Josie and Finnick return to District 12 for the Victor's Tour and find themselves faced with Ash's and Coley's family...and a new hero is born.

**Finnick - a few months later**  
  
Josie screams at night.  
  
I was worried that it would set Annie off, and that I would have two hysterical people to deal with while fighting my own panic. That’s the thing about the Games - they never leave you alone. Once you’re in that arena, you never actually come out.

Annie still has her own nightmares, I have mine, and now Josie has hers. But, we all protect each other. As if the fear of whoever cries out first keeps the fear in our own hearts at bay.  
  
The first night after our return, Josie screamed in the night. She called out for Ash first, and then for me. Annie and I woke up with a start.

I froze for a second, my heart pounding in my ears, almost jumping out of my chest before I processed what was happening.

Next to me Annie, my beautiful brave Annie, only whimpered once before suddenly saying, “Finnick, it’s Josie. Hurry.”

I understood then that as long as it was Josie screaming, Annie would be able to ground herself. There was someone else to protect, so she’d be fine.

I kissed her quickly, but passionately, on the lips and then ran to my sister’s room. She was thrashing in her bed, completely tangled in her blankets. “No! Stop! Stop! She’s only a kid! Ash! Finnick! Help!”

“Josie! Josie!” I shook her awake and easily dodged her small fist as it swung at my face. She lay there, gasping and trembling, before throwing herself into my arms and starting to cry.

I stroked her hair, murmuring, “It’ll be okay, Josie. You made it. You’re okay.”

Annie appeared in the doorway when Josie’s sobs have quieted somewhat. “Josie, would you like to sleep with me and Finnick tonight?”

She ended up on one side of me, Annie on the other. All of us clutching each other’s hands to ward of the nightmares.  
  
Sometimes, she still crawls in with us. A few times she’s simply stood in the dark, watching us before returning to her room. I know the nightmares will never leave - the best we can do is hide them.

* * *

  
  
**Josie – District Four, Six Months Later**  
  
“I need to make a speech, don’t I?” I ask Sky.

He looks apologetic as he hands me notecards. “You do. Nothing too big, just how much you appreciate the Capitol and how you feel sorry for the family of the tributes and stuff like that.”

“I have to look at Seaweed’s family in the face and tell them that I’m sorry that I killed their son,” I say. “Do you know how much I’ve been dreading this? I haven’t been able to look at any of them since the Games!”

“Josie,” Finnick puts a hand on my shoulder. “It’s okay. Their son struck first, they understand.”

“Do they!?” I demand.

“His father does,” Finnick replied. “He came up to me in the market two weeks ago.”

I froze. “What did he...?”

“That he wishes Seaweed had walked away after the volcano.”

I nod. “So do I.” I’m still angry at him for betraying my trust like that. But I feel for his family...Perla is two years younger than me. And they have another little brother too.

Sky clears his throat, brushing neon blue hair away from his eyes. “If you’re ready, Song wants to...”

“Song is here?” My stylist enters the room and the stress is momentarily forgotten in the flurry of greetings from the prep team.  
  
Turned out that the speech before my district wasn’t too bad. Seaweed’s move made me the instant favorite in that battle, and everyone wanted me home for Finnick’s sake. My neighbors cheer for real as I wave to them.

  
  
Then we board the train for District Twelve.

“Just read the cards, ok?” Sky says.

“This is Ash and Collette’s home,” I tell him softly. “Their family...”

“Just read the cards and then there’s dinner in the governor’s mansion and then we leave, okay?”

“Josie,” Finnick suggests, “Try not to look at the banners, okay?”

“Banners...” With the faces of the dead. It was easy to avoid back home - Seaweed’s damn face only made me mad - but here. “Yeah, good idea.”

 

So, determined to not look up, I look straight and almost die of shock when I see Ash’s dark eyes glaring at me. His little brother looks just like him. Their family is standing on a platform between the two banners. As well as a stone-faced father and a stricken mother, one little girl, and three boys are on the platform - only one looks old enough for the reaping. It is this older boy who stares at me with burning eyes. I force myself to look down. There is scattered polite and strained applause.

I begin reading the cards, thanking the Capitol and all that. Then I see the words allies. I stop.

I remember Coley in the training room, quietly copying me in the knife throwing area. I see Ash sleeping before me in the forest, crying in his sleep for his sister.

I let the cards fall to the ground and I look up at the banners: Collette, small and serious, and Ash, silent and strong.

_Thanks for the speech, Sky, but it’s my turn to talk._

“I’m supposed to say how I didn’t know my allies well,” I tell the crowd. “But that would be a lie.” I meet the eyes of the boy on the platform. “I didn’t know them long, but I knew them because it was the same story with a twist. Finnick and I could have been Ash and Coley. And I swear to you that I didn’t want your daughter, your sister, to die. And Ash...” I’m crying now, silent tears streaming down my face, but I’m going to finish.

“Ash told me that he wasn’t leaving the arena without his sister...he wasn’t leaving...but I didn’t ask him to sacrifice himself for me. It’s a debt I can never repay. So thank you, thank you for raising him to believe in a family because Ash is the reason I’m here now...because he saw Coley in me. And I’m sorry that he’s dead because he...he...was the best man I’ve ever met...”

I can’t talk anymore.

The family is all crying. So is the crowd. And then, Finnick comes up behind me. He puts a hand on my back and gently steers me away from the microphone. I let him. But then, he leans into the microphone. “I owe Ash too,” Finnick says. “And I need to add, Ash said that he hoped that if the roles were reversed, I would have done the same.” Finnick looks the father of the family in the eye. “I would have.”

My brother and I leave the stage to thunderous applause.

  
  
I’m following Finnick, Sky, Song and a Peacekeeper to the governor’s mansion when someone calls my name. “Jo! Josephine Odair!” Wait, please!”  
It’s the boy I saw earlier, the one who is the spitting image of Ash.

The Peacekeeper steps forward and grabs him. “Only authorized personnel,” he growled.

The boy struggles, “Please! I need to talk to you!”

“It’s okay,” I tell the peacekeeper.

“Ma’am,” he begins to argue.

Finnick steps forward, being his charming Capitol sweetheart, “Please, I’m sure you can forgive this. The kid’s obviously a bit star-struck. Let them talk. They’ll be no harm done.” As he talks, he slides something into the Peacekeeper's hand.

 _A bribe_ , I think. The peacekeeper steps back. “Take as long as you want,” he says. “I’ll be watching from there,” he points to the window of the building we were approaching, “Don’t go anywhere.”

Finnick and the others head inside. I’m left alone with the boy.

 

He looks nervous now that he can speak. He shifts from one foot to the other in the snow, his breath coming out in little nervous puffs of white smoke.  
He’s almost as tall as me, skinny yet strong.

“I’m Jo,” I tell him. “You’re Ash’s brother, right?”

He gulps. “Yeah, I’m Jaxx. Listen, I...I don’t blame you for surviving. I just wish...” He can’t continue. 

“I know,” I say.

Jaxx nods, wiping his eyes furiously. “Ash...he wrote letters for us. Just in case, and left them for us...and I want you to read them.”

“What?”

Jaxx reached into his coat and pulled out a stack of letters. They’ve been folded and unfolded many times. I see tear stains and dirt. They’ve been read many, many times by a family who lost their son too soon.

“I need them back,” Jaxx says handing them to me. “So could you read them now?”

I nod. Ignoring the cold and the watching Peacekeeper, I wipe the snow off a log, sit down, and begin to read the letters written by a boy I may have loved.

 

Later, I can't really remember what the letters said. I remember impressions, scattered lines here and there.

To his parents, " _If you’re reading this, I’m in the Hunger Games. You know as well as I do that I don’t have what it takes to win. I’m sorry...Whatever you do, don’t give up. Your kids need you....When I’m gone know that wherever I am, I will be watching over you_."

To Collete, his Coley, who never lived to read her letter, " _Please don’t look at life like it hates you. ...Teach the younger ones what I have taught you..._ _I love you forever._

To Jaxx, who sat next to me in the snow, watching me as I read: " _Watching you grow up has been a blessing...Remember how I showed you to fight...don't let those boys at school lay a hand on you. You’re in charge of taking care of the others once I’m gone."_

To Leo, who Jaxx explains is the middle boy I saw: " _Don’t keep hating the world...Wherever you disappear to all the time, keep that sacred. It's always good to have a place to yourself. To think. To get away...keeping fiddling with gadgets, you're the smart one."_  

And to the two youngest," _Derek,_ _Your drive of adventure will carry you far, just keep it fueled. Don’t let that passion die...Sweet Macie. Stay innocent. You may not remember me after a couple of years, and that’s ok. Just know that you have an older brother that loves you so much and will always look out for you._ "

 

I looked up slowly and met Jaxx' eyes. "We won't forget him," he had said hoarsely, having read the last lines of Macie's letters with me.

I swallow back my tears. "Neither will I."

* * *

 

 ****The 74th Hunger Games  
  
**Josie – The Game Room**  
  
The arrow flies through the air and hits Cato in the head. He’s dead instantly. Haymitch nods slowly as the TV screen from District One turns off. The only two tributes left are the two teens from district Twelve: Peeta Melark and Katniss Everdeen.

“Oh my God,” Johanna says. She sounds honestly surprised, “They’re gonna make it.”

“You think both of them are going to be winners?” I ask Finnick quietly.

Finnick shakes his head. “They can’t do it. They’re going to....”

 

“Attention. The previous rule change allowing for two victors has been repealed. There can only be one winner. Good luck.”

 

Haymitch is so still that I wonder if he is dead.

“Haymitch...” Chaff begins.

“Shut up!” Haymitch hisses. He turns up the volume on the TV.

“I’d be dead if it wasn’t for you,” Peeta tells Katniss.

Katniss throws her bow to the ground and reaches for the Hemlock berries.

No one keeps quiet.

“What the hell!!”

“Does she know what she’s doing?!”

“Damn.”

I clutch Finnick’s arm, and yank him down so that I can hiss in his ear. “Snow!”

I would know: I spent all night entertaining a group of politicians. Finnick would know: he spent this morning and last night at the home of a well-known artist. Johanna would know: her family is dead for refusing to play Snow’s sex-centered game. And Haymitch would know: his family is dead for _changing the rules of the game._

“Damn, stupid girl!” Haymitch roars at the screen.

On the screen, the berries are at their lips.

“Stop!” The game-maker, Seneca Crane, shouts desperately. “Stop! Ladies and gentlemen, the victors of the 74th Hunger Games!”

 

The Game Room is silent. The main TV cuts to show Cesar Flickerman yapping happily and crowds cheering.

Someone mutes the TV and the room full of past victors is silent except for ragged breathing.

“Shit,” breathes Johanna.

We all know the rules. Katniss Everdeen just broke them all.  
  
Haymitch runs out. The people I trust all run after him.

“Haymitch,” I tell him breathlessly, “Haymitch! Snow will target her.”

“Damn girl,” he hisses.

“She opened Pandora’s box,” Beetee says thoughtfully.

Finnick laughs quietly. The small group stops and stares at him.

“Hey, idiot, anyone home?” Johanna asks. Coming from her, it’s almost a term of endearment.

“It’s started,” Finnick says.

“And so we go,” I say. We split up.

We’ve all got a score to settle with Snow. We can wait.  


That girl just set the world on fire and she doesn’t even know it.  


_You would have loved this, Ash._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part II is posted under the name "Victor's Club" and begins at the end of the 74th Hunger Games!

**Author's Note:**

> I will be updating a chapter a day for the next several weeks. This is part 1 of 2. If you are hoping for some Katniss and Peeta action, I ask you to give this story a chance - the rest of the characters will be appearing in part 2. Happy reading and may the odds be ever in your favor!


End file.
